Fangs Out
by obscurepepsibottle
Summary: She was falling; a pilot with no equal, a red ledger, and a history to match, Leah Barton was thrust into the turmoil that is War. She's dealt with guns and the unavoidable ending of her life but never the return of a familiar face or an alien invasion. And on top of her already building problems, a certain Norse God decides to grace her with his presence.
1. Meet Lima Bravo

**AN: I'm super sorry I haven't updated at ALL for such long time. Europe and prep for college is hitting hard. This is just a preview, more to come. Rate and review?**

Prologue

It wasn't often that Leah questioned orders, but this evening had been an exception. She had received orders earlier that day that she would be serving as an escort for precious cargo. Two things in the communication didn't make sense to her.

For one, she was a Covert Airman, status of Combat Pilot, who was always the first to call for delicate issues that still required a gun. Her training and handling of all aircraft made her the most desired and most knowledgeable Combat Pilot in the service. And when she was transferred to S.H.I.E.L.D. they put her to good use. Leah was always the one to run reconnaissance, covert strikes, and often enough was referred to for air support.

Secondly, she never delivered precious cargo. The only precious cargo she could even think of delivering would be a bomb that could level a city. And a payload that large was often set up for her AC-130 Spectre; a massive gunship that, while to public records had been decommissioned for production, was one of her personal favorites via S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources.

Unfortunately for Leah, she took the orders a bit too literally. She was to actually fly in the Director and right hand agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to one of the home bases. Walking to the Black Hawk Copter she had been assigned, she grumbled at the amount of information she lacked. All she had been told was that there was a Class 3 evacuation in progress at the HQ. While that wasn't much information to go on, and sometimes she had even less, she had at least assumed S.H.I.E.L.D. would provide a bit more information when concerning their operatives' safety and the evacuation of a Central Operating Base. As she made her way inside of her Heli, she wondered when she would next be able to have some down time.

She huffed as she went over the precautionary checks after seating herself in the pilot's seat, helmet and headset now on. Her blonde locks didn't totally fit due to its length, but she didn't dare cut it.

"CA Barton, checking in. Tower, do you copy?" She spoke up over the rotors beginning to warm up.

The reply crackled over the comm.

"This is Tower, we copy. Cargo is on the strip, please await boarding before departure. Over."

"I copy." She straightened and awaited the Director.

One she knew for certain, was that it was going to be a long time before she could take a proper leave. Whether it was for the best or for the worst, she'd just have to wait and find out.


	2. A Failed Jink

**AN: Chapter 2 is up and looking good. I've done so much research on slang for pilots, it'll make for some interesting content. Still working on IILM, please be patient! Super sorry guys, but in the meantime, please enjoy!**

A Failed Jink

"What's our ETA?" The Director's voice brought Leah's eyes away from the console and the approaching horizon of the desert.

"We're about four minutes out from the LZ, Sir." She replied over the noise.

Though she knew the man and woman behind her were two of the most important people for S.H.I.E.L.D. the feel of being back behind the joystick of a chopper kept her nerves steeled. She watch the ground below the chopper as she flew them over the buildings, satellite dishes, and the vehicles with people scurrying through the late night to vacate the buildings. The voice of Agent Hill once again snagged her attention.

"Are you by chance related to Agent Barton?"

Leah knew that would come up eventually.

"Yes ma'am, he's my older brother." Leah glanced down at the gauges before resuming her stare at the horizon.

"I suppose work doesn't allow for a lot of family time?" Fury said.

"Not really Sir, but he also isn't exactly aware that I'm affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D."

She almost laughed at herself. She was escorting the Director and his Agent during a Code 3 evacuation and already began to hint at the strained relationship with her so called 'brother'.

"Excuse me, Sir." She flicked on the comm and sent out communicae to the Landing Zone. "LZ this is CA Barton, incoming with precious cargo. Landing on pad five, please verify. Director in vicinity."

"Per your record, Barton, you're the best damn pilot that we have ever seen. I look forward to meeting you again." The Directors voice was gruff in the moving air.

Leah felt a smugness begin to build in her chest. So Fury had seen her file. Perhaps due to her relation to Clint, but either way, he had read it all the same. It was certainly a file to read, she knew that. With as much experience as she had at only 24, any organization would be lucky enough to have her. She tried to push away any afterthoughts of the compliments as she decreased altitude, leaned back in her seat, just as Fury and Agent Hill vacated her chopper with the rotors still spinning.

Thinking back to what Agent Hill had asked, it made her wonder if Clint ever thought of contacting her. Sure he probably didn't know she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. now, but she'd be lying to herself if she claimed she wasn't hurt by his not trying.

_What does it matter if he never contacted you? It's not like really want him to._ Her thoughts made her uneasy and she shook her head to continue the cool down of her chopper.

"CA Barton, this is Tower. Please keep engines hot, evac is imminent. Over."

Frowning, she pursed her lips. That certainly wasn't good. She had been in many high stress situations but didn't normally have to deal with evacuation, so she wasn't sure just when she _should_ be concerned about her orders.

"This is Barton, I copy. Engines hot. Over."

Leah let out a breath and let her muscles slacken. Sure she had been working basically non-stop ever since she was hired by S.H.I.E.L.D. but she never truly found a reason to take leave for more than a two day limit. A lot of people called her a workaholic, but in all honesty, working was the only thing she was good at.

She didn't have any friends, none that really knew her aside from her name, and certainly was socially awkward. She never really switched off. It was always military talk, clothing, and her down time was usually spent testing new aircraft or by herself. Leah removed her helmet and readjusted the headset, her dirty blonde hair falling from its braid in strands. The only thing about her solitary behavior that actually bothered her was the fact that other people thought she was like that because of her ego. Perhaps a part of that was true, but it still bothered her that that was the only conclusion people could draw. Some said she was too pretty to bother with other people, and by far, that was the conclusion she hated the most.

She had the same high cheekbones as her brother, same high cheekbones and blue eyes, and didn't particularly like her figure. She wasn't muscled like the other S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliates, in fact she was a little too curvy for anything outside the cockpit of an aircraft. Leah's brilliance for aircraft and her aim with a gun far surpassed her physical prowess, especially because she couldn't throw a punch worth a damn.

She rolled her eyes as she found herself dwelling deeper and deeper into self-loathing and took a deep breath that forced her chest to strain against the somewhat too tight uniform top.

"Ugh, damn things." She grumbled as she wriggled her bra back to a more comfortable position.

She was still somewhat daydreaming when a deep rumble shook the Black Hawk and Leah went stock still. Her hand shot out to the comm-link lightning fast and flicked the radio to 'active'. She had only been waiting 26 minutes, what could possibly have happened in that amount of time to cause such a reaction?

"Tower, this is CA Barton. Felt some disturbance down here, what's going on? Over."

A moment of silence before the radios burst into sudden noise.

"Barton, this is Tower. Evacuation commencing, we have internal readings of the facility, we must evacuate the immediate area. Do you copy? Evacuate immediate area!"

Leah's blood was rushing now.

"I copy. Engines hot, awaiting Director Fury. Switching comm-link, over and out." Channels were switched as she hailed the Director.

"Director this is CA Barton. I'm ready for evac, what's your twenty, over?"

She waited for a response and felt the ground shaking the chopper. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it in her bones. Rotors were now spinning fast as she hurriedly prepared to gain altitude.

"Barton, this is Fury! Be ready to follow hostile force!" Her radio crackled alive.

Hostile? She almost paused in her preparation. HQ was one of the most secure facilities she knew of, what the hell could possibly have the jump on them?

"I copy, ready to take off."

Leah turned just in time to see Fury running full speed for the Black Hawk, his arm rounding over his head for her to take off.

Just as she opened the cabin door, a massive shudder went beneath her craft before a great roar exploded in her ears. Looking around the pad, there was a surge in the concrete as it rose and began to crumble.

"Get us in the air! Head to the south tunnel, enemy has something of ours!"

Leah said nothing and instead lifted them into the air as the pad fell out beneath them. _Jesus Christ, _was all she could think as the Landing Zone fell away from the craft, not only from liftoff, but also from it sinking deeper into the earth.

"We are in the air, Sir. Heading to south tunnel." She called out. Fury's voice came up over the roar of the rotors again.

"Open the side door and get ready to take open fire. The vehicle should be coming out of the tunnel soon."

The Black Hawk was swinging wide over the rise in the hills as it approached the south tunnel before Leah saw the headlights emerge from the tunnels mouth. And they were moving fast.

"Target just ahead at 300 meters, Sir. Closing in."

She pushed the joystick forward and began to close in on the vehicle, spotlights shining down on it. It was a S.H.I.E.L.D. regulation vehicle, she recognized it, and frowned as she saw a glowing blue light in the truck bed. Fury called out to her.

"Get ahead of them!"

"Copy that!"

Adjusting the balance was second nature as she easily swung wide and gravity pulled her back into her seat. She heard gunshots as she tried to maintain a steady distance in the night sky. The second she chose to look down at the vehicle was the moment a giant blue explosion of light lit up her vision and the back of the craft exploded in heat and shrapnel.

"Shit!" She screamed as she desperately tried to maintain a steady descent as it began to spin out of control. "I can't hold-"

Nothing more was able to be said as a strong hand yanked her from the cockpit and out the side of the craft. There was no breath in her lungs to scream as she hurdled towards the ground at an angle before tumbling into the ground and momentarily losing her vision. Dust was in her mouth and down her uniform, a splitting pain shot through her shoulder, and she coughed squirmed on the ground as she tried to sit up.

A crash and the sound of rotors hitting a solid surface reached her ears, mixing with the ringing in her head, before more light filled her tearing eyes. Turning just so onto her side, she saw the vehicle speeding away.

In this moment, there was stillness. She coughed even more to get the dust out of her teeth and off her tongue, but she could see Fury's face now. He looked over to her and she nodded to show she was okay, despite the spreading pain in her shoulder and feet. The expression on his face was unreadable for the most part, but she could feel that in some manner, they had failed.

Fury's radio crackled before a voice, Coulson's voice, broke the ringing.

"Director."

Fury stood to his full height and Leah struggled to do the same, simultaneously damning herself for not being in better shape or more of a badass.

"Director Fury, do you copy?" Fury pulled out his radio.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down." He glanced at Leah rising from the dirt.

"Hill?"

Leah turned away and headed to the downed Black Hawk to grab the black box and send out a request for assistance. The throb in her shoulder was beginning to dull and she tested its movement.

_Probably a compressed rotator cuff… or just a massive bruise. Damn pansy._

As she walked to the chopper she heard the words that Fury spoke with a hard voice.

"As of right now, we are at war."


	3. Beaded Up

**AN: This chapter's a little slow, but you get to know Leah a bit better and certainly learn more about her in the next chap. Enjoy, rate, and review, the good stuff.**

Beaded Up

It had been only four days since the incident at HQ, and for the most part, Leah had been dealing with flight requests and some of the sub-directors even had the audacity to ask for her service for _cargo transportation_.

And as of right now, she was silently fuming on the way to the temporary office of the Director. Ever since the evening of the Director meeting her, he seemed to have shown a particular interest in her flight talents and spent some of his valuable time on referring her to multiple missions. But the second she saw requests for cargo transport, she was out of her seat with the file requests thrown on the table.

Her blonde locks bounced on her shoulders as she stomped through the hall and the looks from other S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives gave her no pause. Mustering what courage she had to not flinch before the Director, she knocked hard on the door and waited.

"Enter."

She pushed the door open and strode in, barely looking at Hill as she cocked a brow at the abrupt entrance.

"Barton, an unexpected visit. Can I help you?" Fury asked without looking up from the data on the screen in front of him.

Clearing her throat, she said, "Sir, I have some queries concerning my records." Fury looked up now.

"Such as?" he prompted.

"Was I not recognized as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most valuable combat pilot? With an outstanding reputation for high stress situations?"

Leah now had Fury's full attention, not to mention Agent Hill's, and the somewhat poorly hidden irritation on her face had them both raising a brow. Fury couldn't help but see just how similar her face was to Agent Barton's when she was upset.

"Yes, you were."

"And was I not also recognized for my outstanding duties in the line of fire during multiple operations in North Korea, Iraq, Iran, and several other hostile countries?"

Her demanding tone had Fury growing curious.

"Where is this going, Barton?"

"Sir, with all due respect, what the hell does my record have to do with me getting cargo transport requests?"

Hill stood from her seat and turned to Fury, the look in her eyes almost saying, 'I told you so.' That look was enough for Fury let out a huff.

"Clearly, nothing."

His gruff response had Leah stiffening.

"CA Barton, you are hereby assigned as Flight Assistance to the Avengers Initiative." He paused to gauge her reaction, but received nothing but the slight parting of her lips. "You are to report to either Agent Coulson or Agent Hill for all orders, and you are also free to a certain level of order interpretation."

Leah stared at him for a moment before shifting on her feet, her cargo pants making the only noise in the room at the moment.

"Avengers Initiative?" She choked out.

"Yes. Hill will explain. I have a few things to look after."

As Fury took his leave, Agent Hill came around the table in the center of the room to hand Leah a file. Looking up into Hill's face, Leah saw her softened expression. That was not something anyone normally saw interacting with Hill.

"This is your updated file, giving you access to any and all aircraft you choose to utilize. You will report to either Agent Coulson or me for orders."

The file was passed between the two women in the office.

"I referred you as a top candidate for an associate to the Initiative." This grabbed Leah's attention and her eyes shot up to the brunette.

"Ma'am, why would you do that?" She asked.

A slight smile graced Hill's usually hardened visage. "Despite your familial affiliation to Agent Barton, your record is quiet impressive." Hill turned away and began to pace.

"You've shown excellent responses to high stress situations that require, more often than not, multiple years of service. Considering your young age and impressive skill, I believed that whether or not you believed in the idea of heroes, you would be an asset to any high level team."

Leah stared at the file, her new security status, the paycheck, everything. It wasn't often that she found herself needing to express herself, but this was a moment that she felt she really that she should and she was unable to find the right way to do so.

"Um…" Her head empty of words.

"Coulson needs you for transport. You're going to be picking up Captain Rogers."

Still trying to find the right words, Leah looked up at her and felt supremely inferior. Whereas she was a shorter, curvier, blonde air-pilot with the physical prowess of a potato, Hill was the embodiment of the perfect Agent. She was tall, toned, brunette, and was always taken seriously.

Sure, Leah was taken seriously in the right moments, but not every S.H.I.E.L.D. associate was willing follow the orders of some 'hotshot pilot'. Not to mention that everyone saw her as an egotistical bitch because she never talked to anyone casually or had friends.

"We're a lot alike, I think." Hill's voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Why's that, ma'am?" she croaked.

A smirk graced Hill's mouth. "Our jobs mean everything to us. We don't have associations with people outside of our work, and we certainly don't waste our talents trying to impress the people around us." She paused.

"Listen closely," Leah fixed her eyes on Hill. "I don't say this often, because sometimes it's better to be the 'lone wolf' so to speak, but you need to have a friend that will also be your advocate."

"But… I'm not very good with- I'm just…" She began to sputter, but Hill placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I read the file and the police reports. I know about what happened after your brother left."

Leah's lips thinned, but not out of anger, and she felt her fingers grip the file a bit tighter. Not once had the incidents ever come up before, and she wasn't keen on letting it affect her, but she could feel the tell-tale signs of her anguish rising in her throat.

"Please don't…"

She didn't know what she did or didn't want to happen now, so she let the weak statement hang in the air.

"I'm not doing anything with the report." Hill stated firmly. "You are now part of our level. You're one of us. You pick up the Captain in two days, and until then, I want you to be familiar with your new chain of command."

Leah watched Hill's face for a moment. And with a curt nod she faced her completely, folded her hands behind her back, and was able to form a sentence that she was familiar with.

"Yes Ma'am."

For the next two days, Hill and Barton had spent a significant amount of time not only going over emergency protocols but also briefing Leah on the gravity of the situation. She had learned about the compromising of her brother and just how serious of a danger the Tesseract was posing.

She now knew about the Avengers Initiative, about the different people they were assembling, and for some reason, she felt like this was just another day at work. Although she wasn't exactly flying over hostile air space with the possibility of being blown to Kingdom Come, her new friend, she found herself thinking, wasn't so different from her. There would often be split moments of near humor throughout their days, and it surprised the both of them that they found moments in which they could share a slight chuckle or exchange a knowing glance.

Agent Hill was also surprised. She had worked for years trying to maintain a very serious façade, and somehow after reading the reports and meeting Leah, she had made a friend in two days more easily than she had tried making friends during her years of school before S.H.I.E.L.D. She found Leah very easy to get along with; generally even tempered, quick witted, and very reliable.

One thing about Leah in particular surprised her. Considering the pilots troubled past and lack of a backbone during those years, she found it interesting that the pilot trusted her so devoutly after such a short period of time. It wasn't that Hill wasn't flattered, but it made her curious that if her past had anything to do with the way she trusted people now, how would meeting her brother again affect her? Especially considering that Leah had intentionally kept her affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. secret from him.

At the moment, Hill was looking over the flight register for the next three hours. Leah was scheduled to leave in about half an hour to retrieve the Captain with Coulson. A voice pulled her from her concentration.

"Maria!"

Hill's head snapped up and met the blue eyes of the combat pilot she had learned to appreciate in such a short amount of time. But, had Leah just called her by her first name?

"I'm heading out with Coulson on Quinjet Foxtrot-Lima, exiting through Bay 2. We should arrive back on the Carrier in 0200."

Leah was standing in front of Hill, fixing the headset resting on her neck, while chewing a toothpick between her lips.

"You just called me Maria." The statement hung for a moment.

"You call me Leah." She pointed out stoically. Maria smirked at her.

"Touché." Was all she said in response, and with a curt nod, gave Leah the go ahead.


	4. Loss Of The Bubble

**AN: So here we go, another chap, going well and somewhat timely. IILM is kind of on hiatus so that might be a while. Rate and Review.**

**Warning: Mentions of abuse, don't read if you don't approve.**

Loss Of The Bubble

"We're about 40 minutes out from Homebase, Sir."

Leah's voice rang out in the cabin of the Quinjet as she, her co-pilot, Agent Coulson, and Captain Rogers, flew midheight above the ocean. Originally, when she read the file on Rogers, she thought he was an interesting person to read about. And now that he was on her jet and she had seen him in person, all she could think about was his jawline.

She wasn't one to swoon, like Coulson currently was, but she also wasn't completely blind to the Captains appearance. He was a nice looking guy with a nice attitude; something that Leah could certainly appreciate.

Her co-pilot on the other hand, was giving Leah the silent treatment and pretending to play nice with Coulson and the Captain. But as she usually did, she paid him no mind. Leah figured he was pissed because he was being bossed around by a younger pilot, which would definitely piss her off if she were in his situation.

_Keep it professional._ She told herself.

In the meantime, she listened in on Coulson and the Captain talk about the one Bruce Banner. Of course she also had to read the files on who they were recruiting and such. She found herself beginning to space out until she heard one of Coulson's not so PC comments.

"I watched you, while you were sleeping." She almost snorted at that.

Not seconds later he was trying to remedy the comment, but seemed to just make it more awkward for the Captain.

_Well, good to know I'm not the only one who fucks things up._

Landing was typical, and very uneventful to her mind, as she left the co-pilot to secure the Quinjet. He threw her a sour look as she waltzed past him to report to Hill. The Hellicarrier was a bustle of noise, people, and aircraft. They had a range of craft from Quinjets to B2 Stealth Bombers; one of her dream crafts.

With the sun beating down on her dark pilots' uniform, she entered the Helicarrier to take an elevator to the Bridge. Not a single person on the carrier was standing idle.

Leah had to admit that she appreciated how efficient S.H.I.E.L.D. was with their protocols and processes. She never had to deal with mix-ups in flight times or payload manifests, which was something that the Airforce did occasionally mess up on. It was only minutes before she entered the Bridge and nearly came to a halt at just how massive the space truly was.

Hill had seen her enter and Leah seemed to gravitate towards her with widened eyes as she looked about. Leah sidled up next to Hill and kept her eyes moving from the table on the platform, to the arrangement of computers on the floor and the walls, to the great window that showed the craft now ascending into the sky, letting the ocean fall away in a tumble of white froth.

Leah leaned against the railing that overlooked the computers and watched the many agents that worked beneath her from her current pedestal.

"Impressive." Came the whisper over her shoulder and she turned to only meet with a view of a large chest. Looking up, she notice it was the Captain.

"Sir!" She immediately stood at attention and the Cap seemed startled by her reaction.

"At ease, you're not under my command. At least I don't think you are." He let out an embarrassed cough.

"CA Barton, Sir. Special Operations Combat Airman."

"Steve Rogers, Miss."

Leah didn't know what to do next so she stood stock still, not relaxing from her drilled reaction to a superior officer. And that seemed to make it more awkward. As they both stood there, among the bustle of the personnel and file reports being shouted into the air, the similarity between the two was uncanny. Both were so devoted to their positions in the Army, or Airforce for Leah's case, that neither of them new how slip into a casual manner. Steve looked uneasily at her and then simply went for a casual two finger salute, which she returned full force, and turned away to march next to Director Fury for further orders.

_What the hell was that?_ She could feel her face burning up.

Hill had watched the scene and was so uncomfortable and borderline embarrassed, for both Leah and the Captain, she didn't know if she could even find it in herself to make Leah pull away casually. Not only that, but she also recognized how Leah's mannerisms from the Airforce affected her in all social situations. Growing up with nothing but a chain of command and orders, Hill could see why Leah was so inept at a casual conversation.

But that left the one remaining question; why was she able to be casual with her?

"We're at level, Sir." Hill reported and Fury gave a nod.

"Good. Let's vanish."

Fury then turned to walk back to the meeting table, seeing a uniformed CA Barton and an approaching Captain, he held up a quick hand to ask for Leah to wait and into that hand went a 10 dollar bill from the Captain. A wry look and Fury was crossing the floor once again to shake hands with Dr. Banner. Leah watched the exchange and noticeably stiffened as the Captain passed her, though his eyes were focused on other things.

It was odd that after several years of service with S.H.I.E.L.D. she could still manage to get put into a situation that made her feel out of place. Though it wasn't often, the feeling somewhat reminded her of Special Ops training. The grueling borderline torture she went through to become well respected. She nearly didn't make it through because of her lack of fighting skills, but it seemed that a higher power had vouched for her skill behind a joystick and she was able to go one to train under some of the best pilots and flight mechanics that S.H.I.E.L.D. had available.

To say she was lucky was a massive understatement. Memories of her days before flight training almost had her grimacing, but she shook herself as the familiar salty-orange taste of her anxiety settled on the sides of her tongue. She was out and in the wind and she was happy to fly every day she wanted to.

While she stood off the side she was able to continue her perusal of the Bridge. Until she spied a familiar face; and it wasn't Hill or Fury. A picture of her brother was plastered on a screen not 15 feet from her with a red headed woman kneeling beside it. The vile, anxious taste on her tongue spread and she felt a twist in her gut at the mere sight of his photo. The woman turned her head and contributed to the conversation that Leah had missed, and in that one moment, saw the horribly disguised distress on the pilots face.

"It's still not gonna find them in time."

Leah turned her head away. _Keep your guts down, idiot._ She scolded herself.

"You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do we have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury asked, crossing his arms.

"Call every lab you know, have them put the spectrometers up on the roof and calibrate them for Gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."

Leah could easily see that Dr. Banner was an intelligent man, and from what she read on his file from Hill, also dangerous. She wondered why, if he was such a genius, he had allowed himself one experiment too many which led to his green skinned alter ego. Though she wasn't one to judge, she knew that. It wasn't like she didn't make a few mistakes in her time.

"Do you have someplace for me to work?" The Doctor asked. Fury nodded.

"Agent Romanoff! Could you please show Dr. Banner to his lab?"

Taking that as her cue to make herself obvious again, Leah inclined her chin and placed her hands behind her back as the red headed agent walked by, a curious look in her eyes. Fury also noticed the pilot.

"CA Barton, I'm glad you made it here with your cargo. You were ahead of schedule by almost an hour."

"Thank you, Sir." Her voice was solid.

"I'd like to have you standby for the meantime, I'm not certain when exactly we'll need you, but I'm hoping it'll be when we find this man called Loki."

"Yes, Sir." Was her simple reply as she turned swiftly and left for the Mess Hall. She hadn't actually eaten since yesterday and she was beginning to feel it. For some reason she felt that her brother had gotten mixed up in something. Something bad. Not to mention that her new position to the Avengers Initiative now put her much closer to her brother, which made it obvious to her that sooner or later he would find out just where his sister had disappeared to.

Her walk and retrieval with her food was easy and undisturbed. Taking one of the far tables she sat down and began to calmly eat her bratwurst and steamed vegetables; a meal that she would have killed to get a hold of in Basic. A flash of red hair had her freezing before her second bite.

It was Agent Romanoff with her hands folded on the table and an inquisitive gaze directed at Leah.

"Your name?" She prompted.

"CA Barton, Ma'am. Special Operations Combat Airman." Her throat constricted slightly.

"You're related to Agent Barton." It wasn't a question and she obviously wanted more information, but Leah couldn't find the words to explain except for her routine response.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Explain."

"He's my brother Ma'am." She stumbled on the word 'brother' and choked down a swallow of air.

"He never mentioned you. Why is that?" Romanoff tilted her head at the girl before her, and boy, did she look like her brother. The similarities were uncanny.

"Uh…" Leah faltered not sure just what to say. The history was deep and ran far too close to some old wounds. "I don't know, Ma'am."

Romanoff frowned and Leah guessed that her short answers weren't cutting it. She then said, "He hasn't seen me in almost fifteen years, Ma'am."

"You're twenty four years old, right? Why the distance between you two?"

Romanoff didn't have time for her mind games and it was obvious that CA Barton was being truthful; every emotion ran through her features in sequence. Starting from the surprise at her visit, the nervousness, and then the fleeting look of emotional pain. Either she didn't train to control them or Romanoff's presence truly unsettled her; either was fine of course.

"That was his decision, Ma'am." She replied simply.

"I'm going to be frank with you. I've worked with Clint for a long time, and never once did he mention a sister." Leah flinched at the words but didn't interrupt or ask questions, so Romanoff continued. "Why? And even now when you both work for the same organization, you don't dare contact him. His leaving those years ago obviously left some damage, but you must have been close. Clint isn't the type of person to not care about family. Let alone a younger sister."

Leah swallowed, painfully and audibly, as she set aside her food. _An unfortunate waste, _she thought to herself. Her expression spoke for itself as she looked up at Romanoff.

"What happened is over with, Ma'am. I don't know what more I can tell you."

"Tell me the truth!" Romanoff snapped.

The red head saw something she didn't expect; Leah flinched. _So she responds negatively to sharp words._ Wheels were turning her head and the Black Widow came upon a conclusion that, perhaps far-fetched, made some semblance of sense. _Abuse._

"I can only say that you have the authority to review my file, Ma'am. Please excuse me." Leah removed herself swiftly from the Mess Hall, and obviously Agent Romanoff let her go. She could feel a sick bile rising in her throat as she sped to her temporary quarters.

Those words played over and over in her head, _Tell me the truth! _Such ugly words that always seemed to ring around in her ears before dropping onto her stomach in a heap of emotional turmoil. Hurrying down the hallway of the Bunk Hall she came upon her door and wasted no time in entering and slamming shut behind her. The dark was welcome.

"Stop doing to this to yourself, it's been years, just stop." Her voice felt foreign. Perhaps because she felt it shouldn't be her voice telling her this.

It should be the voice of reason, strength. It should be Clint's.


	5. Her First Rocket One

**AN: Heyo! Chapter 5 is now up, it's going pretty good, and responses seem pretty good as well. Thanks to those who followed/favorite/reviewed. Means a lot so keep it up guys! **

**Warning: Mild language.**

Her First Rocket One

Leah had barely an hour to get her nerves under control when Hill had sent her the next set of orders. They had found Loki, the God of Mischief, in Stuttgart, Germany. Leah had been to Germany before on a few occasions, though it was mostly for Go-Juice (Pilot lingo for fuel).

Leah was sitting in the pilot's seat of another Quinjet going through her preliminary checks. Despite the feeling of her lingering anxiety from her earlier confrontation with Agent Romanoff, the cockpit certainly helped to settle her back down again.

"Air Boss, this is CA Barton in Quinjet Lima November. We're on Alert 5*, over."

Her relay to the Air Boss, or boss of the flight deck, was quick and familiar. She always felt like the lingo was her native tongue instead of just steady English. Glancing at the time on her watch, she had 4 minutes and 20-some seconds till departure.

"Barton, this is Air Boss. We copy and your cargo is incoming. Please wait for your mark and proceed to lift off. Over."

"Copy that. Over."

She began to fasten herself in and ready the engines when she noticed Romanoff. And damned if she didn't piss herself then and there, the agent was also slipping in to the co-pilot chair. _Jesus fucking Christ, don't you dare throw up._ Trying not to look at the red head she glanced back to see that the Captain was now onboard in full uniform, a rather well fitted uniform nonetheless.

"Air Boss, this is CA Barton. Cargo is received. Mark, over." Turning she called out to the Captain. "Sir, please find a seat, this is a VTOL craft."

The Captain stared at her for a moment before she clarified. "Vertical Take Off and Landing. We'll be flying by Speed of Heat*, ETA should be about five hours. Snuggle up."

The next several hours went by quietly and almost painfully. Romanoff said nothing to her until she asked Leah to drop the Captain right on top of Loki's position once they got there. Leah, of course, only gave her the typical short affirmative she always gave people.

Leah new that Romanoff being her co-pilot wasn't a coincidence. Whether it was to secure Loki or just to grill her for more information, it didn't really matter. She still felt sick to her stomach as the red head threw glances in her direction. It wasn't until the end of the fourth hour of flight that Romanoff actually spoke to her.

"Clint should be down there with Loki."

"What?" The slipped out before Leah could control herself and her surprise flashed quickly over her features.

"Loki has him under some sort of spell, he's following his orders now. He's been compromised."

Silence enveloped the cockpit then, save for the white noise of the engines. The infamous Black Widow never truly let emotions show. But this was the younger sister of a man she trusted. A man whom she owed a debt to. Emotional barricades weren't necessary when she could already tell that Leah was about as harmless as a fly. The analogy in the woman's head seemed odd, but Leah Barton was somewhat of a mystery to her. She was openly emotional and yet her social awkwardness coupled with her military habits didn't give much information. So she began her other tactic; blunt statements and questions.

"Are you going to kill him, Ma'am?" Leah asked.

Romanoff didn't answer but instead threw something else at Leah. Hopefully something to catch her off guard.

"I'm sorry I grilled you in the Mess Hall. Old habits die hard."

"Not a problem, Ma'am." Leah's response was strained. Mostly because to her it _was _a problem.

"You can stop calling me 'Ma'am'. I'm not your superior."

Leah fiddled with her altitude gauges and the radio channels in an effort to buy more time to respond.

"Yes- uh… okay." _Idiot._ Romanoff's lips quirked slightly upward.

"I did read your file though. You're a runaway. But your training with planes and other aircraft started very young. Clint can fly too, but I don't think he's on your level. Why's that?"

"Uhm. Well, when we were younger some neighbors of ours owned some planes on a small airfield. We went there a lot."

"You both did?"

"Yes." Romanoff wanted to frown at the short answer.

"What happened to make Clint leave?"

For the first time in a long time, Leah thought about this question. In truth, she had no idea why he left. She just knew that once he did, things changed for the worst for her.

"I don't know. One day he was home and the next, just gone." She paused to breathe deeply and check the navigation.

"I was only nine when he left, but I didn't stop flying. As things got worse I ended up spending so much time at the airfield that by the time I was fourteen, I had flown every craft on the property."

_That's it, _Romanoff thought. That tiny little slip that she needed.

"What got worse?"

Leah felt her hands begin to shake and struggled with the joystick for a moment. "Home got worse."

Deciding not to press that too much, considering Leah's earlier reaction to the questions, she changed the direction of the conversation.

"What happened after you left home? Obviously you continued flying."

"Yeah, I did. After I left I stayed with a friend and kept going to school just for grades. But I got up in the air whenever I could. The minute I turned eighteen I enlisted in the Airforce."

Leah realized that this was the longest she had ever held a conversation with anyone regarding her life. And somehow, she felt like it was okay. It was okay to trust Romanoff with these small things about herself. Sure, she could do research and figure it out for herself, but actually her, it felt…cathartic.

"You had to go through Special Ops training, especially for the career path you wanted to follow." Romanoff added.

"Yes, I did. That was hell."

Romanoff grimaced slightly before saying, "But you never went through with the combat training. Just did the basics."

"Yes. I can't throw a punch for shit."

The admission hung in the air and Leah's boldness surprised them both before Leah let out a snort. Something changed just then. It was a moment where the world felt tilted for a moment before a sense of familiarity, without a discernible origin, usurped the silence and brought the two drastically different women together.

A girl with a damaged past who seemed perfect in her field on interest was also somewhat socially awkward, stoic faced, and odd, had managed to grab the attention of a master assassin who was not only drawn to her because of her blood tie to a man she owed a debt, but because of her hidden resilience. A glowing determination that lay hidden beneath the layers of military training. This was something that fascinated Romanoff. But all of this led back to one simple fact: Romanoff saw herself in Leah.

The rising out of ashes from a single stepping stone. While Romanoff's stone was Clint's arrival, Leah's was his departure.

_It's almost poetic, _Romanoff thought.

"Maybe I'll teach you how to throw a good one."

"Only if you pay my medical bill, Ma'am." The two women glanced at each other and Romanoff saw the small smile on Leah's face.

"Deal."

A beep sounded in the cockpit.

"German Air Towers." Leah muttered. "ECM* engaged, otherwise we're painted*."

"How close can you get us to Loki's position?"

Romanoff didn't get an immediate answer so she turned to face Leah who had a blank face. Leah was beginning to hope that the people she was deciding to get close to would approve of her long hidden sense of humor.

"You're kidding right? I could land this baby in his underpants if I wanted to."

**Alert 5: Basically means awaiting take off in five minutes. (similarly Alert 10, Alert 15)**

**Speed of Heat: Very, very fast. (AKA Warp One)**

**ECM: Electronic Countermeasures. Used to jam enemy communications, weapons, or radar.**

**Painted: Means you're being scanned or tracked by radar. Detectable.**


	6. The Pucker Factor

**AN: Chapter 6 is up, things doing good. I'm so happy with the positive feedback. Rate/review!**

**Warning: Mild Language and references to abuse. **

The Pucker Factor

They were closing in on the opera house quickly and Romanoff made sure that the Captain was ready to go as soon as she got within range. The likelihood of a firefight was high, according to her co-pilot, and from what she was seeing below her, it was likely to involve innocent bystanders.

The mark on the navigation system lit up the map like a Christmas tree; they were within a couple clicks of the opera house, and still closing.

"Captain, make ready for bail!" Leah called out.

"What kind of firepower does this thing have?" Romanoff asked.

"The Quinny is equipped with a high-speed, high-caliber Gatling gun. Once you open up the initiation command here," she pointed to the string of buttons on the console in front of Romanoff, "you'll have full control of the turret linked to your pole*"

"Got it."

"Just get him in the Boresight* and lay it on him."

Then she saw _him._ Though she couldn't see detail, she saw the green cloak and golden helm. And the glowing blue spear he held pointed at a civilian in the middle of a square. There must have been at least a couple hundred people kneeling to him on the ground. Her blood began to pulse behind her eyes, a tell tale sign she was nervous.

"Cap! Bail!" Romanoff shouted as Leah opened up the rear hatch.

Needing to further instruction, the Captain was on the ground deflecting a burst of blue light.

_Jesus! If this goes bad, it's gonna be a knife fight in a phone booth!_*

Romanoff opened up the PA system and barked her demands. "Loki! Drop the weapon and stand down."

There was only a beat of silence before Leah saw the blue light hurtling towards the craft; but she was more than ready. She expertly pulled on the joystick, swinging the Quinjet horizontally over the now dissipating crowd. _That was close,_ she thought as she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

The Captain was all over Loki; throwing punches and kicks and taking just as much damage as he was giving. Leah sucked in another breath as she swung the craft down low to give Romanoff a better angle, but to no avail.

"They're all over the place." Romanoff muttered in annoyance.

A sudden flurry of noise and flickering lights dragged Leah's attention away from the fight on the ground. Looking at the command display she saw a new window pop open to say, 'PA System Override'.

"Agent Romanoff. Ya miss me?"

Leah recognized the song now: Shoot To Thrill. Someone was messing with her craft! Letting out a hiss she began messing with the PA System controls in a vain attempt to cut the music and gain control. Romanoff noticed her quick actions and looked away only to see Stark taking Loki down. Bursts of light throwing him to his back. Glancing back at Leah, she almost thought of laughing. The look of pure frustration was so plain on her face she knew just what was making her angry. Not Stark's choice of timing nor his flair for drama; but the fact that he had dare to mess with Leah's area of expertise, her aircraft.

"What the hell!" Leah growled as she gave up and simply landed the craft.

It took a moment to make sure that Stark and Rogers had Loki on his way to the craft before Leah began to unbuckle and leave the cockpit.

"Where are you going?" Romanoff asked with a cocked brow.

"Securing my cargo." Leah bit back, not exactly trying to hide her annoyance.

_She's just like Clint with his arrows, _Romanoff sniggered to herself as Leah turned her back.

With the rear hatch now open, she got a better look at Loki, said God of Mischief. In full regalia, black leather and golden armor with green accents, he was certainly not hard on the eyes. Leah noticed how tall he was, certainly taller than her though it wasn't much of a challenge to be so, and how he held himself was somewhat unsettling. He was standing tall with his dark hair slicked back, long and somewhat frilled about his neck. Pale skin with cheekbones on his face that could slice butter. She realized what she was doing a moment too late as his eyes met hers. Green, of course. But now he was looking at her just as intensely.

The curvy mortal stood with a strangely curious face, blonde hair pulled to the side in a braid and her blue eyes glittering in the night light. Loki recognized her instantly.

"Ah, Miss Barton. How kind of you to greet me."

Leah's blood went cold. His voice was smooth like silk and dark like smoke.

"Keep moving, Raindeer Games." Stark snapped and gave him a slight shove.

Snapping her gaze away from Loki, she turned to the Captain.

"You can put his Highness in the rear seats of the craft, Sir." Both Rogers and Stark gave her an incredulous look before taking him onboard and fastening him in.

Loki was a more than a little surprised at the title she gave him, and his sly smirk was his only sign that her comment made him feel as such. Agent Barton told Loki he had a sister, younger obviously, but he also said she was probably dead or missing. And with the control that Loki had over him due to the scepter, Barton wouldn't be able to lie. So perhaps his precious agent didn't know his younger sister was even alive and prancing about with these so called _heroes._

_Oh this will be fascinating, _Loki thought, not even trying to contain his amusement.

Leah, on the other hand, was double check her Quinjets processor just next to the door to the cockpit. As she worked, she saw Stark and the Captain quietly conversing out of the corner of her eye. She sighed thinking that perhaps she got herself in over her head when a voice pulled her from her reverie.

"Oh, Darling Leah, I must apologize. I nearly forgot to inform you; your dear brother is alive and well. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that he missed you all those fifteen years."

_Shit._ Leah felt the bite of his words sink in. the bitterness of Clint's abandoning of her during her early years had never quite healed over, and it took all of her will power not to wince. Swallowing, she tried to ignore him as the Captain ordered him to 'shut up'.

"Do tell me Leah, did you miss your dear brother?" The lilt in his voice was obvious and she almost wanted him to say her name again.

Leah froze. Never once in the fifteen years did she actually miss him. She envied the days before he left, but otherwise, resented him. A deep cold disdain that stained her soul black as far as family was concerned. She blamed him for everything that happened to her. Whether it was rightfully placed, she didn't care. Another thing that surprised her is that she also never admitted to hating him. She said that he was her brother, but never, ever, did she admit that she missed him or cared for him.

His existence in her memories was simply basic to her, whereas since the years passed, she couldn't really wrap her head around the fact that he was indeed alive and walking the same earth as her. But, being who she grew to be, she never openly hated him. She didn't show it. And perhaps, she shouldn't be allowed to hate him. She didn't know why he left, just that he did. Slowly, she turned to face Loki while Stark, Rogers, and Romanoff kept their eyes glued to her; eyes begging and demanding that she didn't answer.

And with a voice foreign, she said, "Not once, you're Highness."

**Pole: Joystick**

**Boresight: The line of sight for a weapon or a focal point.**

**Knife Fight In A Phone Booth: An aerial dogfight with a nimble adversary, in this case though, alludes to a blood bath.**


	7. Meet The Bogey

**AN: This chapter is a bit long, more fun. Thanks to those that followed/faved. I really appreciate it! Rate/review and all that good stuff.**

**Warning: Mild language**

Meet The Bogey

The flight back to the Helicarrier was going to be long. And by long, Leah knew that meant a painstakingly silent cockpit, an annoyed series of glances from Romanoff, and snarky comments from Stark. She realized that indulging in Loki's question she had basically opened herself up for emotional warfare; but at this point, especially after everything she had been through, she figured it would be nothing more than a relatively unpleasant walk in the park.

It was only a couple hours into flight when the weather unleashed its wrath upon her craft. And certainly, no one was expecting this.

"Ugh, can't get good visual in this Goo*." Leah muttered and Romanoff seemed just as surprised about the nasty turn the clouds had taken.

"Where is this coming from?" Romanoff sniffed.

"No clue, satellite said it was supposed to be clear all above Angel one*, we're almost reaching Angels two*." Leah responded.

Lightning and a strong headwind had the occasional jolt throwing Leah against her seatbelt, crushing her chest rather painfully in her suit. It was bad enough that visual was bad up in the air, now she had to deal with lightning and thunder. Romanoff and she were busy trying to keep the craft flying smoothly when a loud bang and more lightning lit up the sky. The Quinjet rocked quickly and Leah had to right it quickly before they tilted dangerously to the side.

"What the hell was that?" Romanoff called behind them.

"Let's check it out." _Oh hell no._

Stark slapped the button to open up the rear hatch and Leah was already screaming at him to stop messing with her craft before another figure landed in the opening. She shrieked at the loss of what cabin pressure they had before Romanoff handed her a mask. Leah had to turn her attention back to the screaming of her dials and oxygen levels in the cockpit as she heard a series of shouts and a loud crash behind her.

Both her and Romanoff hurriedly tried to not only maintain altitude from a sudden added weight just before it left again and the craft swung up from Leah's efforts to keep the craft airborne.

"What is going on back there?" She yelled over the howling wind.

"Another Asgardian?" Romanoff shouted.

Starks voice was the one that finally provided blessed answers.

"Doesn't matter, if he takes Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost."

"Who took Loki? Stark, shut that hatch!" Leah shouted, but her demands fell on deaf ears and flew out the open ended aircraft.

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" The Captain shouted.

"I have a plan. Attack."

All protests were left in the open air as Stark blasted out of the Quinjet to pursue whatever had taken Loki. For all that was going on, Leah couldn't help but feel supremely in over her head. Not only was she tasked to assist the Avengers in whatever way necessary, but also she was tasked with transporting a prince turned terrorist. And of course, there were the Avengers themselves. A team being thrown together in the hopes that they can pull a victory out of their ass when they weren't even all together yet.

Leah growled into her mask as she heard the Captain saying something about God not dressing like Loki.

It was another four hours of search and flight before they made visual contact with the Helicarrier. And Leah was in a foul mood. Landing the craft was fine and they were met by a heavily armed escort on the landing pad. Leah had asked Romanoff to do the cool off on her craft before she stormed out of the cockpit to face Stark, blatantly ignoring the three other male stares in her craft.

"Stark, Sir, I'd like a word if you don't mind."

Stark turned to look down at her, being a good head shorter than him of course, he tried the billion dollar smile on her.

"Sure thing, hotshot."

With hands  
on her hips and a scowl of rage on her face, Leah let it out.

"I understand you operate on your own agenda, but listen to me now. While you are on my craft you are not to _ever_ take initiative regarding the transport of precious cargo again. His Highness may be a criminal to you, but on my aircraft, he is my responsibility. Not only that, but you blatantly put this operation at risk by going off opening the hatch during flight! Does it not occur to you that we lost cabin pressure at nearly two thousand feet in the air?"

Leah was almost screaming at the last sentence and no one seemed to dare to interrupt her. Even Stark seemed to also have a bit of a surprised gawk on his face.

"Not everyone is an egotistical prat with millions of dollars, okay? Don't you ever put me, my crew, or my job at risk like that again. Are we understood?"

Stark seemed to want to calculate the situation and come up with a witty comment, but Leah didn't let him.

"Good." She snapped at him before brushing past and opening the hatch so the escort team to get to Loki.

Leah exited the craft, still in a raging fit, and left behind several open stares and curious glances as she stalked over to where Hill stood. After giving Hill a complete rundown on what happened, leaving out her lecture at Stark, she accompanied the escort to the chamber where Loki would be held

She was ahead of all the armed men as she led them to the room Hill identified. It took time, but Leah was finally starting to calm down. What she didn't know, was how her outburst on the Quinjet had both amused and impressed the dark god that now walked behind her. And from his current position, he was free to analyze her all he liked.

She was short, perhaps five foot three, with long blonde hair pulled into a braid over one shoulder. Her stance and walk were both military-borne but didn't negate from the healthy swing in her hips. He also noticed he wasn't the only male taking notice of her fine curves. From what he saw on the aircraft, he also knew she was well endowed in the chest. Her eyes were a furious blue and her high cheekbones certainly made her look like her brother. Oh, and her response to his question in Stuttgart, it gave him a great satisfaction to know that he wasn't the only one who held a disdain for a sibling.

Once the company had reached the holding cell and Loki was locked away inside, Leah walked to Fury's side to hand him her quick mission report.

"What were you doing with the escort?" Fury asked with his brow cocked as he took the report.

"Securing my cargo, Sir." Leah responded simply.

With a nod Fury said, "Alright, well you're free to go. Take some rest, you've been up for nearly twenty four hours." A grateful smile nearly took over her features before another voice echoed in the great chamber.

"Oh, don't say you're sending the dear away?" His voice ran chills down Leah's spine and she shivered openly.

"We've barely begun to know each other, Darling girl."

Never in her life had she ever been called something like that. The blatantly shocked look on her face seemed to support such a claim. Not only that, but Leah had also never had a boyfriend; a friendly crush perhaps, but never someone she actually opened herself up to. With such inexperience, she couldn't figure out just how to feel about Loki saying such things. Surely he was doing it to piss off Director Fury. Knowing that, Leah saw the look on Fury's face and gave him a quick nod to signal her ascent to her leaving the room. To make it quick, she turned to Loki and looked him straight in the eye and said, "I'll take my leave. Please excuse me, Your Highness."

And for lack of a better means of escape, she simply scurried from the chamber. Loki's chuckle echoing in the great open space that went running over her skin was proving to be detrimental for her stoic façade.

Going down the halls, she reflected upon her tirade on the Quinjet. It wasn't going to do her any good making enemies on the Avengers team. She slowed to a standstill on the side of the hallway and let out a breath.

_I was so out of line, _she thought to herself. A worried look crinkled her brow before she turned and when in search of Stark. And to her luck she saw him walking down the hall with Agent Coulson. Leah knew Coulson vaguely but certainly respected him more than most due to his familiarity with Fury, and now Stark.

"Oh look!" Stark clapped his hands as he saw Leah approach. "Agent, this is the fine young lady that gave me a piece of her mind."

Leah's face reddened and she sheepishly stood at attention. Coulson threw her a curious look while Stark just looked downright pleased with himself.

"It's not often that women can make me feel bad, but it seems like you got a knack for it, Blondie."

"I wanted to apologize, Sir. I was out of line with regards to the manner of how I spoke to you. I'm afraid I'm not used to people not following with my flight habits."

"Your aircraft, your rules, right? I totally get that, unfortunately I don't do well with rules." Stark sniggered.

"He really doesn't." Coulson added.

"So who are you exactly? You look a little familiar."

Stark's bluntness shouldn't have been a total surprise, but she still wasn't sure she'd ever get used anyone being that straightforward.

"Combat Airman Leah Barton." She responded with a curt nod.

"She's the best Special Operations Combat Airman that the United States has ever seen, especially considering her age." Coulson added.

"So you're a genius in your area of expertise! Wonderful. And you're that Hawkeye man's sister right? You look just like him. I still have yet to meet the little archer."

Leah coughed before saying, "I am." Stark was beginning to make connections much faster than Leah would have liked.

"Well, good news for you, you're much easier on the eyes than that guy. I read his file, totally not impressed. His face just isn't as zen as yours, sweety."

Again, Leah's face went tomato red and she struggled to find words. Words never came to her unfortunately. Coulson cut in to crush the growing awkward silence in the conversation saying they had to go the debriefing and shot her a sympathetic look. With a nod and a quick salute, Leah continued down the hall. She groaned inwardly and went to find her bunk, badly wanting that rest she had been ordered to take.

**Angels (number): Means 1000 feet in the air (Angels 3 = 3000ft)**

**Cherubs (number): Means 100 feet in the air (6 Cherubs = 600ft)**


	8. Sierra Hotel India Tango

**AN: Hey! Chapter 8 is up and 9 is a work in progress! Thanks so much for all the positive feeback! Rate/review/fave, all that good stuf!**

**Warning: Mild Language.**

Sierra Hotel India Tango

Leah was able to get a couple hours of sleep before the waking world pulled her from the darkness. She lay in her civvies on her bunk and stared at the ceiling, the odd lull of the Helicarrier made a comforting rumble vibrate through her mattress. Leah let out a long sigh and let herself sink into the comfort of her sheets.

It was her first couple hours of down time since she was assigned to the Avengers Initiative and she was taking as much as she could get until Fury called for her. Leah let her mind wander as she looked around the bunk room. It was small, which was expected, but the mattress was actually comfortable and the sheets soft against her skin. Her hands wandered over her ribcage where her tattoos told their stories over her skin. The quotes and pictures spanned her whole right side and stopped just below her hip bone and beneath her right shoulder blade.

She loved her tattoos, the images and words told more about her life than anyone could ever begin think; a mountain range drawn only in shading, quotes from Buddha and the Bible, and the names of six fellow combat airman's that died under her command. She remembered every single one of them, and though she had far fewer casualties than some other pilots, she still took it upon herself to mark herself in their memories. No one ever deserved to be forgotten.

_Did Clint forget about me?_

The thought made her jerk up in her bunk and stare down at her hands. What a filthy thing to wonder. Did she really want him to remember her? To remember the things they did together in the days of their childhood? Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that she loved the Clint in her memories, but she also knew that the Clint of today was not going to be the same. If she ever saw him again. A bitter taste flooded her mouth and she grimaced as the taste was accompanied by the thoughts of Clint wanting to know what happened after he left.

_As if he would really care, he'd just want to put his mind to rest._ Leah actually hoped that if he ever did find out what she went through that he felt guilt. She hoped he would feel a burning guilt over leaving her to fend for herself against their _parents._ _His parents, _she corrected herself, remembering how much more they cared for him over her. He was the golden child, a prodigy. He was smart, good with a bow, kind, clever, the best any parent could hope their child to be.

Leah was none of those things. She could fly, she could shoot, fix any kind of machine and she could sing better than anyone she knew; but those were the peaks of what talent she had. And unfortunately, those talents were never enough for the parents. She wasn't an avid exerciser like Clint was in their youth, he could out run her no problem. And their parents always compared her to her _wonderful _older brother. It wasn't that Clint didn't see what was going on, but she supposed he chose to ignore it because if he did do anything, it would just get worse.

The one time he did try to protect her, their parents screamed and shouted that he should never have to protect a weaker creature, not even trying to refer to her as their other child. It was disgusting how cruel they were, and it only got worse when Clint decided to leave her at their mercy. She was an abandoned creature that tried so hard to please her parents that it nearly destroyed her. And finally looking back on those days of her youth, she remembered that the only real protection she had was while she hid in Clint's shadow.

_Pathetic, _she thought brokenly.

Swinging her legs over the edge of her bunk, she stood up to put on her uniform knowing that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. She struggled with her top as she tried to pull it over her breasts and it rolled into itself making a tangle of fabric. She growled as she struggled with it. When she was finally able to rip it off, the Helicarrier made a sudden jolt and threw her to the ground in only her sweatpants and her bra. The rumble of the engines shuddered the entire craft and she leapt back up to pull off her sweats and put on her uniform.

_Loki must have done something, _she thought as she zipped up her suit and boots to run into the halls.

Her senses were met with shouting, ringing alarms, blinding red lights, and steam bursting from an air vent overhead. All she could think about was getting to her aircraft before she reached for her radio as she jogged to her hangar.

"Maria! This is Leah, what's going on?"

"Leah!" Hill's voice came over the radio slightly distorted, "I need you to get to the Detention Center, back up Coulson!"

She was close the Detention Center, but she didn't get why she should go there instead of the hangar. Her breath was now coming in short puffs as she jogged.

"What about the hangar? Do we need air support?" Leah turned a corner that connected to darkened hallway but gave her a direct path to Loki's cell.

"Negative, we've lost an engine but Stark and Rogers are on it. Back up Coulson, that's an order." Hill barked through the open channel.

"I copy. Over and out."

Clipping her radio back onto her belt and un-holstering her pistol, she ran to the Detention Center. She wondered if Loki had somehow caused all of this, and considering the reports she read about New Mexico, she assumed he was behind this. A flurry of sparks shot out from above her head and interrupted her thoughts.

"Shit!" Leah squealed as the sparks left a burning path down the side of her neck and shoulder.

After righting herself and avoiding a collision with another S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, she reached the door to the Detention Center. Punching in the code and scanning her eye, she entered the room as the door slid open and then closed behind her.

She still held her firearm tight in her hands when her eyes landed on Loki. He was sitting quite casually on the bench provided for him, his legs splayed before him in utter relaxation, completely motionless. She ascended the steps to the floor with the cell controls when Loki finally acknowledged her presence.

"Well hello again, my dear." His voice sounded smooth and cool in the cell room and it almost made her forget about the chaos going on outside the Detention Center. The key word being 'almost'.

"Your Highness." She responded cautiously.

Loki cocked his head to the side as he stared at her. She was indeed a charming creature, for a mortal, and easily held his attention.

"I do believe that guarding your 'precious cargo' should not be at the top of your priorities."

Leah frowned, certainly confused as to why he would ask the question and at the same satisfying Loki's suspicions that she was, indeed, out of her element with this new mission.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're asking, My Lord."

_Oh the titles, _the god thought. _How quaint of her to keep her manners of her in check._

"I am your lord now?" He asked as he stood up, another rumble shaking the aircraft. "I must admit, Leah, your respect for me despite my reputation makes your species somewhat less repulsive."

Leah grimaced and said, "You're still of higher rank than me, My Lord. My opinion shouldn't hinder you being given the title you were born with."

A smile then graced Loki's face. He couldn't decide if this mortal was actually trying to respect him or was cleverly mocking him. It was borderline amusing.

"Lovely. Perhaps once I am freed of this cage I shall give a gift." Leah frowned and said nothing.

_Where the hell is Coulson? _Leah threw a nervous glance at the door, a glance that Loki didn't miss.

"Waiting for someone, my dear?"

Before she could respond the door to the Detention Center and his cell opened simultaneously. A roaring voice echoed in the room and Leah could only watch as she saw a blonde haired man throw himself at Loki as he tried to exit the cell; only to fall through his figure and the cell door to close once more. _No, _Leah choked on air as she spun to come face to face with Loki. She tried to step back quickly, but his hand was around her wrist in a split second. Dropping the gun from one hand to the other she got off one shot to his face before he roared at her, snapping her wrist to the side and throwing her into the railing to his right.

Leah didn't feel the pain of her fractured wrist until she hit the floor, which caused her to let out a strangled shriek. She struggled to breathe for a moment before looking desperately for her gun; it was nowhere to be found.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Thankfully, Loki didn't direct the question at her.

Loki's voice filled the room after the sudden flurry of activity and for some reason it made Leah's wrist begin to throb. The pain radiated up her left arm and she could see it beginning to swell. Looking up at Loki, standing mere feet from her, she pushed herself to her feet, her chest heaving.

"And you, dear girl, shall receive mercy." Loki turned towards her with a sinister grin on his face. "I will grace you with a new knowledge, a new peace. And you will be loyal to me."

Leah didn't realize how close he was to her until his whole body was mere inches from her own and he towered over her like the god he was. A hand reached up slowly to brush her cheekbone before a spear-like weapon planted its blade between her breasts. Leah was no longer breathing and her eyes went wide as she looked at Loki.

"You are mine, now." And the blue light filled her up, mind, body, and soul.

(If you guys noticed, the title of the chapter is an acronym. hehe)


	9. No Punch Out

**AN: This chapter is super long but I guess you guys might like that. It might be a couple days before I add another chapter, I'm leaving on another vacation with the family. Hope you guys like it! Rate/review and all that good stuff.**

**Warning: Mentions of abuse.**

No Punch Out

What happened in the next minutes was almost impossible for Leah to understand. She had been ordered to prepare a Quinjet for His Highness, but other than that, she almost couldn't place where her thoughts were going. It was blissful peace and absolute calm as she waited in the cockpit for her King.

She could feel the sweet thrum of the blue light feathering over the back of her mind, keeping her steady. For once, she didn't have to keep her worries to herself; Loki could feel, see, and know everything that went through her mind. Finally, someone other than herself, knew exactly what was going through her head.

As Loki and the rest of his loyal agents boarded their new craft, and he was oddly satisfied with the new addition to his entourage. Leah's mind was very complex, different paths and roads of memories, feelings, and emotions that drew his curiosity to the surface. Leah was a tortured creature, in her youth, and as he sat himself in one of the seats with the scepter at his side, he entered the darkest recesses of her mind.

She was utterly lonely. Though within the last week she had made a companion of an Agent Hill, and spoken to Romanoff, she was alone. No friends after she left home, no role model to vouch for her, no one to protect her. Loki could feel the loneliness that plagued her, that stained her consciousness. And it was this loneliness that Loki understood better than most. After he fell from the Bifrost, darkness took him. Fallen through shadow and the stretches of Yggdrasil. While he had wandered in solitude throughout the Nine Realms until Thanos found him, Leah had wandered in the same such state among her own people. Until he found her.

_This poor little mortal, _he thought to himself, a grin growing on his lips, _I will guide her. Let her know true peace. And in turn, she will serve me. Perhaps even better than her brother._

Leah could feel Loki looking through her thoughts, her memories. And she didn't mind. He was her King now. She felt foolish for trying to aid his enemies, she knew nothing of what freedom truly was. But now she did. Her King had given a true gift; the least she could do was serve him as a proper follower. She was happy that someone else was guiding her now, no longer allowing her to float along unnoticed. Too long had she gone through life without guidance. She had military training and regulation, though she wasn't sure it counted as guidance, and now she had a King. A King who deserved her undying loyalty, that would keep her safe, and most importantly, she would never truly be alone again.

_I'm not alone._

The sudden thought echoed in Loki's head as he heard it. Leah had not one disloyal fiber in her being. Whatever part of her would have thought of resisting was long gone. She had accepted Loki far more easily than another had, more so than her own brother, and didn't fight him. He didn't need to regulate her thoughts to keep her under control, she had surrendered completely. Glad to let him guide her on the path that he had chosen.

To say that this pleased him would be an understatement. The god was greatly impressed by how badly she actually wanted someone to guide her. And indeed, she now had a guide.

The time it took to get to the rendezvous point to drop off the agents seemed to pass in almost an instant, though it took at least two hours.

"Leah, you will now take me to Stark Tower. The good doctor should already be there with the device." Loki's silken voice washed over Leah and she turned to look at him.

"Of course, My Lord."

Oh, the adoration in her eyes was not lost on the god; not one bit. He grinned as she turned and readied the craft once more to ascend in the sky, thinking that even if she hadn't been blessed with his gift, she still would have been a lovely thing to keep around. He cocked his head to the side as he chose a seat closer to the cockpit, wondering what sort of a woman she truly was.

But he had no time for indulging his curiosity. He'd take his time once he had Midgard in the palm of his hand.

_And Leah beneath me._

Loki froze. That thought was certainly not something he would normally think. But the thought forced something else to enter his mind. An image of the blonde mass of hair spread out like a halo from her head, eyes glazed over, and mouth gasping for air as she shrieked beneath him. A growl rumbled in his throat. Why would he ever consider doing such a thing with a _mortal_? She was lovely, especially by Asgardian standards and his own, but she was unworthy of him. She had a finite life, an end waiting for her once her time came. And he did not; Loki would be infinite.

But who was he to pass up such a fine morsel, when she was already so happy to please him? He watched her with keen eyes as she flicked switches and maneuvered the joystick in her hands, though she tried to avoid using her left hand. Loki could see just beyond her profile, and through the window, that Stark Tower was close. They were flying just over the city and approaching the tall building they deemed their destination.

"LZ in sight, Your Highness. Landing in five." Leah's voice came through the air.

"Very good."

Perhaps his loyal girl deserved a reward. _Not yet, _he corrected himself, though he could feel his trousers growing a little too tight.

Leah prepared the Quinjet for landing and positioned them over the landing pad on top of the Stark Tower. She couldn't help but think perhaps Stark went a little overboard, especially since he practically built a monument in his own honor. His ego was something she could never understand; not just for him, but an ego of that size in general didn't make sense to her. Stark was no god, not like Loki. She couldn't figure out a true reason for his ego to be as big as it was. Sure his intellect was on a whole new level, but she figured that even her own IQ considering aircraft and machinery was stellar. Leah refocused as she felt a small nudge in the back of her head; a prickling that told her to redirect her attention to the matter at hand. And for some odd reason, she felt as though she should apologize.

"My Lord, forgive me. I lost myself for a moment."

Loki felt a surge of pride for his little follower. He only gave a small psychic nudge once he felt her thoughts straying, and here she was, already apologizing without any instruction. She was quick learner, indeed.

"You are forgiven."

Leah visibly relaxed and the aircraft finally touched down onto the landing pad. Loki quickly exited and instructed Leah to follow him once the craft was secure, which she did just as quickly as she could so as not to disappoint him.

Stepping out of the Quinjet, Leah could see the massive city that was New York sprawling out before her. Stark Tower was huge and it held an air of ingenuity that she wasn't sure it deserved. It was as arrogant creation, especially when Loki was soon to be king. No monument to a simple race should exist. Frowning, Leah followed the pathway inside the tower and was met with an entire floor that screamed of Stark's wealth.

Plush rug under her boots, fine leather couches, marble counters and stone walls lined with bright lights.

"The time is near for my victory."

Leah turned to see Loki standing in front of the glass windows that opened up to the city. His chiseled jaw and sharp features accentuated by his fine armor only made her appreciate him even more. He was a true image of regality; a true king.

_My King._ Leah wanted to smile at the thought and she nearly did, had Loki not turned sharply in her direction. She straightened her posture and bowed her head slightly as he approached her.

"Say it out loud."

"Your pardon, My Lord?" Loki smirked down at her.

"You are no fool, dear girl, tell me what you thought."

"You are my King."

Her response was solid, a proclamation. And a surrender all at once. Loki grinned manically and turned to face the windows once more.

"It would much simpler for the rest of your meager species accept that fact as you have. Your kind has always been known their stubbornness."

"But then you would have no need for me. Or for the others that follow you, My Lord."

He paused as she said those words, the thoughts swimming in her head suddenly becoming nervous and afraid. _Afraid of what? _She was just about as weak as many of the other humans he had bestowed his gift upon, but she was by far the most resilient and willing under his guiding hand. He pressed upon the feeling of her fear and found something he did not expect to hear in a mortal mind, especially given the circumstances.

_Don't leave me alone. _

"You fear solitude, Leah?" His face curious as he looked at her.

"Not solitude, My Lord. Loneliness."

"Elaborate." He gestured with his hands as he wandered toward one of the sofas and sat down, his eyes never leaving Leah's figure.

Leah took a deep breath before continuing, "Solitude is a choice; one that I've learned to exercise. But loneliness is…" she trailed off, searching for the right words. "Loneliness is a burden. The knowledge and feeling that not one soul on our plane of existence understands us or chooses to stay by our side. I fear that very much, My King."

Loki gave a slight nod before asking, "Do you fear this because of your brother?"

Loki could feel the rise of her hatred at the reference to her blood tie and almost grinned. She was remarkably similar to him because of it, and it almost made it easier to think of her; not as a mortal, but as another sentient being worthy of his conversation and knowledge. Though the God of Mischief had many talents and a millennia of experience, he had never met someone who could truly understand what it was to grow in the shadow of a sibling and be supplanted by them.

"I don't know."

"But you hate him all the same." The grin he had been hiding now grew and took over Loki's devilish face.

"Yes." Leah whispered. "It's his fault that I ever suffered. He left me in an abyss."

The words rang in Loki's ears as he remembered saying something quite similar to Thor. What he also noticed was how, in Leah's mind, he had suddenly become her rock. The one being that truly asked the right questions, and whether or not he truly cared, it didn't matter. He had this girls trust and adoration; two things which were certainly not a byproduct of the scepters power.

"Once you become king, what will happen?" _What will happen to me?_ Leah's words and thoughts were both a pathetic and a welcome gift to Loki.

She feared that once he had achieved his goal, he would forget the lesser beings that faithfully followed him, and in turn, betrayed their own people for him. To know this brought a true swell of pride through Loki's chest.

"Leah, you have secretly feared many things. Perhaps it is time you learned to conquer such fears."

Leah's brows furrowed as she processed this.

"I fear too much and have conquered too little." She responded somewhat robotically.

"Shall I help you to conquer such fears? The fear of weakness and pain? And Loneliness."

Loki stood once more and began to approach her, the silly mortal that he realized was growing on him rather favorably. Her blue eyes never left his face and she stared in wonder at him.

"Whatever council you have to offer, My King, I would gladly take."

"It is not just council, it will be knowledge. I have already given you the gift of freedom from your people's most well ingrained lie; think what you could do with whatever else I have to offer."

Loki now stood directly in front of her, now able to smell her in the air. _Rain, _he thought passively. She stared up into his face, her eyes and ears eager for him to continue speaking. She was hungry for what he had to offer; be it knowledge, orders, or even a touch, she hungered for it. She hungered for him.

"What should I do? How do I… conquer this?" The vague question fell into the open air and Loki grinned as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, lips barely brushing her now burning flesh.

"Kill Clint Barton."


	10. Alpha Mike Foxtrot

**AN: Holy shit guys, two chapters in one day! Whew! That was a lot of work, but I certainly got the story rolling. Perhaps I'll take my laptop on vacay with me and update a bit. No guarantees, but I hope you guys like this chapter. Rate/review, thanks!**

**Warning: Language**

Alpha Mike Foxtrot

Leah was pleased to serve her King, and her King was pleased to help her. She smiled to herself as she boarded her Quinjet once more. She was able to tap the radio into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems long enough to know that the Avengers were one their way; and Clint would be among them.

Excitement bounced in her muscles and she was ready to conquer whatever came her way. If she killed him, she would finally be at peace; she would feel free from the memories of the beatings, the anxiety. And she would make him suffer. He left her to the wrath of their _parents_, and ultimately, to her own death. She remembered the beatings and the curses they laid upon her. The times they would simply slap or punch were tolerable, but once they escalated, they became hours of terror and absolute fear that crushed her lungs and made her scream in her sleep as she thought of them. Once, they had even taken a bat to her. She was lucky to have survived that one. And now, an angry satisfaction flooded her; no doubt in her mind that Clint would come directly to the Tower. Loki took a moment to explain that Clint had fought against Loki's gift; a foolish endeavor. She told him it was ridiculous for her brother to do so, and Loki found a kind of glee in knowing that Leah allowed her hate for her brother to fester.

Leah now prepared the jet for takeoff, engines roaring and making the craft shudder. Leah could see the Loki was still speaking to Stark, him having arrived just as she was ordered to leave. She waited patiently until Loki once again told her what to do. She used to not like being given orders for her every move, but now, it was assuring. His silken voice would echo in her mind, tickle her neurons and make her head feel light and focused all at the same time. She adored her King; she would never betray him.

Leah's attention was snatched suddenly by an explosion of glass and Stark falling from the tower.

_Now, Leah. You know what to do. _Loki's voice swam between her ears and caused shivers to go down her spine.

Smiling in a manic glee, Leah pulled the craft into the air to rise above the great tower, ready for when Clint decided to show. But perhaps it would have to wait; she saw Stark in one of his suits hovering just outside the windows he had been thrown from not a moment earlier. Snarling to herself she dropped the craft so suddenly she almost flew out of her chair and closed the space between Loki and Stark. Stark's arm that was once raised to attack Loki was now pointed at Leah and her Quinjet.

She saw the arm falter as he flew back to allow more space. She wondered if he was speaking through the suit, and soon enough, her PA System was overridden again and Stark's voice filled the radio.

"Jesus, hotshot, what are doing here? Mind pointing the other way?"

Leah scoffed, "Either you power down, Stark, or I drop you." Her voice was filled with a new venom and she activated the Gatling gun and aimed up.

"Woah there kid! What are-"

Leah cut him off by opening fire; the spray of high caliber bullets slamming into his suit, probably not causing enough damage, but flung him off balance and sent him sailing downward.

_Good girl, Leah. _She took a deep breath at the praise that reverberated in her mind.

"Leah Annatolia Barton!"

A new voice crackled over the radio and she recognized it instantly; Clint. That son of a bitch dared to call her by her full name! Leah snarled as she saw another Quinjet level with her, the noses of the jets barely forty feet from each other. Her blood went ice cold and her throat tightened. Her finger hovered over the trigger and she could feel the prickling around her nose that signaled her tears' arrival.

"You fucking son of a bitch." The words were like razors in her throat.

"Leah, please stop this. You don't have to do as he says, you can fight it!"

The desperation in Clint's voice made her laugh into the radio and she growled as she said, "What the fuck makes you think I want to fight him? He's our King, you bastard, and you betrayed him."

_Kill him, Leah. He knows not what you have been through, _Loki spoke to her gently as he felt her anger and hatred reach a new height. Though Leah couldn't see it, Loki was grinning from ear to ear, absolutely pleased with her loyalty to him. _What perfection, _he thought to himself. Leahwas the perfect example of a mortal that craved subjugation; she craved for someone else to lead her, and though she could protect herself physically in most ways, she hungered for another superior being to protect her sanity. Especially since she had come so close to losing it in her youth.

"Leah, don't make me do this." Clint pleaded at Leah.

There was a moment of stillness, a suspension of time that gave Leah a single moment of clarity. Loki felt it as well and nearly dragged her back under his control when he heard the thoughts of her momentarily freed mind:

_Loki would never leave me like you did._

"I will never forgive you."

The second the words left her lips, Leah opened fire. Spraying the cockpit of the other Quinjet with heavy fire and igniting one of their engines in an explosion of red and black smoke. She scowled as she watched them lose altitude, spiraling down between the buildings that reached towards the sky like teeth. She felt… lighter. A burden lifted off her blackened soul that she felt had weighed down on her for years.

_You did well, _Loki whispered to her, _now go. Take down whomever stands in my way. _

"Yes, My King."

Leah would do as she was bid, and do it gladly. As for Loki, he felt invincible. Things were going his way and Leah, oh Leah, she was changing right before his eyes. The hatred she kept bottled up and the fear she suppressed now rose the surface with a raging vengeance. What he simply loved was her last thought. If need be, he would certainly abandon her to save himself, but she had ignited something that wasn't sure he was willing to extinguish. It wasn't an interest, but more of a calling. Her mind though momentarily freed at the time of her freshened thought, was fully aware that she was under his influence. But she cared not one bit. Despite Loki being a murderer, a tyrant perhaps, she understood one thing; Loki did not see her as a lost cause and actually took his time to mold her to his will. He had felt the joy in her heart as she received his praise and she took his words to heart. He wondered momentarily that if he chose to free her, would she still fight for him so devoutly? _Perhaps not, _he thought with a smirk. Though she was loyal, once freed, her mind would certainly revert to its dominant sense of humanity; her moral code.

Loki thought it rather admirable to be devoted to such an ideal, just like he was devoted to his knowledge, thought it was foolish for her to believe in such things. Loki assured himself that once he ruled Midgard he would surely keep Leah under his wing. She was a valuable asset, as well as an attractive one. He had never thought himself to desire a mortal, but here he was, feeling intrigued not only by her mind but also by her body. Though her posture was often so straight and sharp, he knew she hid her curved beneath her uniform. He wondered what her skin felt like; what she would do if he claimed her like the King he was. The thought was enough to make his trousers tighten against his growing curiosity and make him grin.

Oh yes, once he ruled Midgard, he would have plenty of time discover how she felt. And how she tasted.

**Alpha Mike Foxtrot: AMF is pilot slang for 'Adios mother fucker'.**


	11. The Cracked Brain House

**AN: Hey everyone! Sorry that took so long, the family reunion was awesome and I didn't have time to update. Thanks so much for all of the favorites/follows. Super happy!**

**Warning: Graphic violence and mild language.**

The Cracked Brain House

Leah's head was heavy and full of pressure; he squeezing sensation of her head expelled what breath she had in her lungs as a crackling whimper. The backs of her eyes felt squeezed by her skull as she struggled to open them and felt the belt from her seat cutting into her chest and waist. It was so hard to breathe that she barely managed to keep the static of her vision at bay. As her eyes focused she could also feel the stream of something hot on the side of her head. She assumed it was blood, and judging by the concentrated stinging on her eyebrow, that was where the injury was. She moved her jaw slightly and gasped as air filled her lungs, finally allowing her to become more aware. Leah looked in front of her at the rows of buttons and levers, all with their lights extinguished, and coughed. The light that streamed into the cockpit was thick with dust and coated her lungs heavily as she tried to unbuckle her seatbelt.

The last thing she remembered clearly was Loki breaking free of his cell and attacking her. After that it was so much like a dream that, if it weren't for her current situation, she would have brushed off as such. But no, the pounding in her head, the images of Loki, the orders she was given; it made sense. Loki had used her, had made her believe that it was his right, _his right_, to rule over Earth. No, Midgard, he called it. Leah let out a squeal of agony as she pushed herself up and onto her feet, nearly collapsing as her knees shook. Loki had convinced her that she existed only to serve him; that he was worth all the death that was occurring. And the orders he gave her… she could feel the bile rising in her throat and her guts threatened to give a painful squeeze and empty her stomach of whatever it still had. Pressing her lips together, she forced herself to take slow even steps and did a mental examination of her physical state. Her forehead was bloody, possibly concussed, her chest and ribs bruised from the compression of the safety belt pulling tight upon impact, left wrist swollen, and overall, pure exhaustion she assumed that was a side effect of Loki's spell.

Her steps were slow and it felt agonizingly long until she made it to the rear hatch, entered the command codes, and opened it. She was not prepared for what she saw outside.

Laying stretched out before her were the ruins of a city that never slept. Rubble and debris streaked the streets, cars set aflame, bodies and blood spattered on the ground and piled next to overturned hot dog carts. She could see women, men, children; all dead with blue-burned wounds on their bodies, some even with blood sprayed across their faces from some kind of bladed weapon. She whimpered as she looked on it all and didn't even try to keep her gut from clenching and sending up the burning fluid of her insides. She heaved twice more over the hatch door and spat, though it did nothing to rid her mouth of the acidic taste.

_Oh God, oh God, what have I done? _Hot tears burned and seeped over her the barriers of her eyelids and plopped down over her heaving chest.

The memories now burned her mind, staining her consciousness. She killed them. Innocent people and Marines, people of the service, her own _kind. _She blindly served Loki and did as he bade, following happily like a lovesick puppy eager to please her master. He even made her… shoot Clint. Her mind whirled as her hand gripped the side of the craft; she had shot down Clint. _But, _she thought vaguely, _that's what I wanted. _She knew she shot him down, and not solely because of his spell. She shot him down in a moment of absolute clarity. She wanted her brother dead.

Leah shook her head desperately trying to free herself of the mental torment she was enduring. She had to get to Stark Tower. She knew the device was still up there and there had to be a way to shut it off. Straightening herself, though sloppily, she took a deep breath and un-holstered her firearm. _Getting to Stark Tower would be only a fifteen minute walk from here,_ she thought. And though it looked like hell had risen and taken over the surface of the earth, she knew she could make it through. She had killed innocents before, so why did this bother her now? The question stung her mind as she pushed herself forward through the mass of burning cars and fallen rubble; her head pounded with each step she took.

Broken glass and God knew what else crunched under her boots as she quickened her pace, trying to make it to the Tower the best way she knew how. Looking up she could see the Chitauri, as she learned they were named, flying by occasionally in search of more humans to annihilate. _Focus, _she told herself. She had to be strong, make good time, and get to the Tower. Maybe there was a way to send a message to Fury once she got there. Leah chewed her lip as she turned the block making it onto the main street that would take her to the Tower. But she saw Chitauri all along the sidewalks.

Leah sidled up against the wall and wished with all her heart that her head would stop feeling so stretched, so pained, as she fought to keep her eyes open. There was no way she could make a run for it. Every beast on the block would see her and take her down in a heartbeat if she showed herself. She glanced around and saw the subway entrance just twenty feet from her.

_Yes, I can make that. _With another anxious glance at the Chitauri that squawked and crowed at each other, she made a quick bolt for the stairs, nearly throwing herself head first down into the tunnel. Her vision fogged as she scrambled her way down the steps and into the dusty walkway, and Leah knew she would have to be gentler with herself or risk losing consciousness again. So, on she went. Her steps made the only noise aside from the occasional crackle of fallen electrical wire that hung from the ceiling. She kept her finger on the trigger and the gun raised as she made her sweeps and made a slow advance toward the tunnel that led straight to the lobby of Stark Tower.

Leah did a quick corner sweep and she turned down another hallway, empty of any _living _person, but occasionally spotted with bloodied and scorched bodies. She made a pointed effort to not look at the bodies for more than a second; it would make it too difficult for her to move on. She made a beeline down the hallway, trying to be quick, but before she rounded another corner that led to the stairs she heard rumbled noises. Freezing, she pressed against the wall and peaked around. Two Chitauri, tall and masked, lumbered awkwardly through the enclosed space away from Leah. She had the advantage of surprise and that was not something she was willing to lose. Without thinking she stepped away from the wall and fired two quick shots, splattering the alien blood and brain matter of both of the beasts over the floor and sending the bodies to the ground.

"Keep moving." She whispered to herself, and somehow, she found it easier to think now that her head hurt a little less. As she pushed onward, she trotted over the bodies, up the stairs, and made a mad dash to the building, snarling to herself as she found the building on lockdown; the doors bolted shut. She had to get to the top, and quick, so she fired a shot that pierced the air and shattered the glass of the door to the Tower. She looked around her quickly, hoping no Chitauri were coming to investigate. Deeming it safe inside the lobby, Leah jogged inside and went to the bay of elevators and nearly jumped out of her skin as the door to one of them opened, showing it to be empty.

Leah's heart was pounding and damn near burst through her ribs as an automated voice spoke. "CA Barton," a British sounding voice resonated in the lobby and Leah looked up at the cameras in the bay. "As a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, you are given permission to enter the premises."

"Um," Leah shifted on her feet, "Identify yourself, please." She frowned realizing how pathetic that sounded.

"I am JARVIS. The AI of Mr. Stark's New York work facility. This elevator will take you to Mr. Stark's primary floor."

"Is that where Loki is?" She asked, tightening her grip on her gun and stepping into the metal box.

"The entity you identified as 'Loki' is indeed still in the Tower and on Mr. Stark's primary floor. Caution is advised, Miss Barton."

She almost smiled at the sign of respect, and oddly, she enjoyed not being referred to by her military title. She realized that after she had killed so many… she no longer deserved such a rank. She swallowed as the doors closed and the elevator began its ascension. Her head gave another painful throb, but it felt much better than it did before in the Quinjet.

"Thank you, JARVIS." Leah said finally. "Can you contact Mr. Stark?"

A small flicker of hope twitched in her chest as JARVIS answered, "Certainly, Miss Barton. Is there any information you wish for me to relay?"

Leah grimaced remembering how she had shot him out of the air. And how she shot down Clint. And the Marines. She gagged as her stomach gave a surprising squeeze, her thoughts plagued by the people she had killed. _No, _she thought sadly, _I murdered them. _Tears welled in her eyes and she shut her eyes tightly to try and keep them back.

"Yes," Leah choked out. "Tell him that I apologize for my actions earlier and to please find out if my… brother is still alive. Also inform Director Fury that I am no longer compromised, if you can."

"Yes, Miss Barton."

Silence filled her head now and she heaved a sob, tears spilling over, and she desperately tried to steady her breathing. She could see herself in the mirrored image of the elevator doors. She was a _wreck_! Her blonde hair matted in its braid, crispy with dried blood that still coated the right side of her face and neck. A bruise spread over her eye and down her cheekbone, with several more abrasions over her face and cuts through her uniform matched with black scorch marks. She could handle a simple concussion, she'd had much worse before and she wasn't going to let this slow her down. Swallowing the guilt that had knotted up her throat, she kept her eyes forward and tightened her grip on her gun as the doors opened. And what she saw, she wasn't sure she would be able to forget.

"Ah, Leah, darling. So good of you to come back for me."


	12. Bird Down

**AN: Heyo! Thanks for all the feedback, yet again, keep it coming! It's very much appreciated. Here's chapter 12!**

**Warning: Mild Language and violence.**

Bird Down

Leah stared at Loki and realized that, while under his spell, she thought of him as a King. But looking at him now, he was a man who had the shit beaten out of him. There were cuts, bruises, and smears of dirt on his alabaster skin and grit tarnishing his golden armor. He was a man who had manipulated her into thinking that her own people, people of the Service, were her enemies; and she killed them. Loki made her a murderer. The word stung her mind and dove deep into her soul; she would be forever stained after this. Stained from his cool words, the spell he cast, and the memories he had given her. Her lungs drained of oxygen as she exhaled and Leah, the lowly little pilot, thought of something else.

Yes, Loki had made her into a mindless slave and forced her to kill innocent people, but was horrified her the most was that she knew some part of her was happy to do so. A part of her starved for someone else to tell her what she really wanted. She wanted someone else to guide her, because in truth, she never had someone who knew what was best for her. And that part of her that appreciated the way he looked out for her needs, made her sick. Leah slowly descended the set of stairs to Loki on the floor, stopping just short of the reach of his left arm.

"You should not stand idle, girl. Help your King." Loki wheezed out, though his voice still carried a malicious command that made her shudder. He struggled to push himself up, but Leah found herself moving before she could think.

Her foot planted itself solidly in the center of her chest and crushed him back into the floor, a groan leaving his mouth, and his stone cold eyes narrowed viciously on her.

"Thinking for yourself again, are you?" Leah pressed harder and brought the gun forward, aiming at his face.

"Can a fallen god dodge a bullet this close?" Leah snarled at him, her face contorting in anger.

"Fallen?" Loki scoffed and wrapped a hand around her foot in a, what she thought to be, miniscule effort to relieve the pressure on his chest.

"I _am _a god, and a king! Let's not forget that while under my guiding hand you finally did what you wanted to do for _years. _You should be thanking me.

Leah's lips thinned and she had nothing in rebuke. And what burned the most was that she knew he spoke the truth. And the irony, the God of Lies telling the truth. She swallowed and yanked her foot from his grip and stood back.

"You wanted to shoot your brother out of the sky. To give him his last glimpse of life and for it to be of the girl he abandoned." Loki began to push himself up, though he stumbled, and never let his eyes move from Leah's face.

"Stop." Leah squeaked.

"You grew up in his shadow, hidden, for all your talent and were squandered no matter how you tried to please your _parents. _You were a _failure!_"

"Stop it! Just stop! You have no idea what I-"

"I do know!" Loki roared at her, now standing mere inches from her. He leaned his face down so his lips barely graced the shell of her ear and gripped her upper arms with long fingers. "I know better than anyone. But I rose and became a God worthy of a crown. Worthy to rule over a pathetic race. I chose you, Leah, and don't you dare forget that you _loved _every moment beneath my guiding hand."

Loki's voice was soft now and he leaned heavily on Leah for support with his breathing now ragged. Though Loki realized the mistake he made, he also knew that Leah would not see it. So he pressed on.

"Did you not wish to please me? Did you not bask in my praise as you served me?" Tears spilled out of Leah's eyes and the gun clattered to the ground. "You thought me your King. And you wanted to be subjugated, to be ruled. You are so desperate for a true ruler, you are blinded by it. Your very nature cries out for the commands that only I can give you."

"Please," Leah begged, though she didn't know what for.

"Obey me. And you shall want for nothing. You need never live in the shadow of your brother again." The words fell from Loki's lips, and for a moment, he wondered if these were the words he wanted himself to hear; but he would never need guidance. "You will be guided and molded; fashioned to my whims and you will never feel worthless again. You will not be alone."

Leah's eyes fell closed and she knew he was trying to manipulate her. He wanted her to give in, to surrender. And as horrified as she was, she also knew that it was working. She was happy when she served under Loki. He cared for her hatred and fed it into a burning tumult of emotion so that she could finally exact the pain upon her brother that she had felt for so long. But she also knew this: words burrowed deeper than any bullet ever could.

Swallowing the anguish that had risen painfully in her throat, she opened her eyes, tilted her head up to meet Loki's hardened gaze, and with her final ounce of dignity, she spoke.

"Sir, you can go and royally _fuck _yourself."

The moment she finished the sentence, Loki's palm met with a blistering force on her cheek and sent her sailing backward and tumbling onto the floor. Though Leah made no sound, though the pressure that suddenly sky-rocketed in her skull made her want to wail, scream, and whimper in defeat. So instead she gasped out loud on the tarnished floor and barely moved a muscle. Whether or not she was a woman, she had never actually been struck like that in years, and not even in basic training had a man ever hit her. It was only in the years long past that she recalled being attacked like that. And it _hurt._ She could taste the blood in her mouth and she pushed her tongue against her teeth, afraid that they had broken, but only managed to push a small, hot, stream of blood from between her lips and dribbling down her chin.

"You served me well, before. A pity you no longer bear any worth." Loki's voice swam in her head.

Leah had nothing else to say and was too tired to do much else; she simply lay crumpled on the floor until a roar split the silence. It was so loud, to painfully loud, Leah groaned as her head pounded in response to the noise. She barely managed to roll onto her side when she saw a flash of green and Loki's body sailing through the air once again and slamming into an opposite wall.

It was the Hulk.

She remembered when he attacked her Quinjet, and felt a tremor of fear go through her. It took her a moment to remind herself that she, also, wasn't herself during the invasion; the Hulk was doing his job.

_Just like you were doing yours, _she thought begrudgingly.

Leah was jerked from her thoughts when she _felt _the Hulk take slow steps towards her. Her eyes widened and her heart and head began to pound harder. Did he think she was still serving Loki? Was he going to throw her out the window? Leah barely had time to come up with any more possible endings to her life before two large, rough and calloused hands lifted her up and nestled her onto one shoulder, the bulging muscles of the beast holding her contrasting with the gentleness of his grip. For a moment, she considered thrashing, trying to get away; but he was being gentle. He made a low noise as he turned once more to face Loki who was moving sluggishly into an upright position, making an occasional groan or rasp.

Thanking her lucky stars, Leah found herself sagging into the Hulk's grip, her muscles and mind feeling exhausted beyond belief. And as she relaxed, she heard several footfalls, clinks of metal, and an elevator ding. Leah searched the room from her perch on the green shoulder without moving her head and saw all of the members of the Avengers Initiative coming to circle around Loki. And when her eyes landed on Stark, his suit looking beyond repair, guilt rose in her throat and stopped her breathing. Stark, however, gave a simple apologetic look. But that wasn't the only face she felt guilty looking at; Clint slowed his pace as he walked by her and the Hulk. He took in her battered appearance and weary eyes and almost wished he never looked at her. The history between the two siblings coiled tightly in both of their chests with a painful yank of emotion. And for once, Leah was thankful for Loki's silken voice.

"If it's all the same to you," he grumbled, "I think I'll have that drink now."


	13. Perhaps A Playmate

**AN: So I realized, going through some of the old chapters, how many spelling errors there were. Oops. So sorry about that, but they've been fixed and the coming chapters are under construction! Thanks for all the positive feedback!**

**Warning: Language**

Perhaps A Playmate

It had been four days since the invasion and the city looked like death itself had graced it with its horrid presence. Leah's bruises still marred her face in vicious shades of purple and a sickly yellow, and all she had been doing was bouncing from doctor to doctor, from psychoanalyst to therapist, until Stark himself insisted that she be released from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watch and placed in the Tower. His only reason, he claimed, was that since Dr. Banner was also staying the Tower, they'd be able to monitor her for any ill aftereffects of Loki's spell. Though none of it had seemed very helpful. And it was two days after that when she found out Coulson had been killed, and of course, it only added more weight to her already heavy heart.

As of right now she sat on a guest bed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt swallowing a set of painkillers down her throat to dull the throb in her head. Her frustration for the current circumstances seemed to feed her headache, or concussion as she had found out on the day of her physical, and the sudden lack of activity in the chain-of-command was making her stir-crazy. Leah was annoyed most of all that Clint didn't speak a single word to her since he saw Dr. Banner carry her away from Loki. She was pretty sure that Clint was avoiding her and it annoyed her that she couldn't confront him or even do the avoiding herself. It was almost silly that she wanted to the one to do the dissing, but she also felt she had more of a right to do so. She still had a deep rooted hate for what he did, for who he became, and most of all, how he acted that nothing had happened. Every time she even thought of his face she remembered the satisfaction she felt when she shot him down and desperately tried to figure out if that was an after effect of Loki's spell or if it was how she truly felt.

Growling to herself, she left her room and padded down the stairs to the main floor, which was still under construction due to Loki's body being slammed across the entire room. She saw Stark and Pepper chatting over coffee on the couch, Romanoff reading a book on a plush chair, and Dr. Banner reading through several files at a pop-up table and chair near the bar. As a knee-jerk reaction, her heart began pumping a little faster as she walked into the presence of all of these people; especially considering that she took more than one shot at Stark and Romanoff.

"Hey! There's our little Blondie! 'Bout time you came out of your cave." Stark chortled as Leah approached and stood at the end of the couch.

"Hi Leah," Pepper smiled up at her, "would you like some coffee?"

Knotting her hands she gave a small nod, "Yes, Ma'am. Thank you."

"You don't have to keep being all military around us, Blondie, we're all friends here."

_Friends, _she thought mirthlessly. It was a word so foreign to her until this last two weeks. Maria Hill was her friend, she felt that was true, maybe even Romanoff. But all of them? A nervous smile pulled at her lips and gave another small nod as she sat down next to Pepper.

"Um, I actually wanted to tell you something, Mr. Stark."

"Tony." He cut in without looking up from the magazine in his lap.

"Tony," she tested his name, "I'm sorry I shot at you. More like, I apologize for shooting you out of midair."

Tony snorted and gave a wave of dismissal before he looked at her, "You were under some sort of mind control voodoo from the Glowstick of Destiny, Blondie. You had no idea what you were doing."

_Wrong. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I wanted to do it. _

Leah froze at the thought and found herself floundering for words and looked at Romanoff before Tony cut in again.

"Listen, kid, you don't need forgiveness. Besides, I'm pretty sure those bruises on your face are punishment enough. Don't beat yourself up about it." His lilting smile made it a little easier for Leah to digest his words.

"Honestly, Leah," Pepper spoke up handing her the steaming cup she had been pouring, "we don't blame you for anything."

"Thank you… Pepper." Leah looked nervous as she said Pepper's name as she took the brewed beverage from her hands.

"If anything, _I _should be apologizing to _you._"

Leah turned to look at Dr. Banner who had taken his glasses off to address her. She had thanked him for carrying her to some S.H.I.E.L.D. medics a couple days before and oddly found herself seeking his company. He was just as out of place as she was amongst the 'heroes'. She found his meek nature to be rather well suited to her emotional needs at the moment, though it was such a contrast to his green alter ego.

"Dr. Banner?" she prompted.

"I mean, while Loki had you under his control, I tore your jet apart. Literally. In retrospect, those bruises are because of me. And so is that concussion you've been nursing."

"No. You shouldn't have to apologize to me." The words came out stiff and she found herself looking at Romanoff again, hoping, praying really, that the super spy would jump in and say something.

"More than anything, I think you need to go talk to Legolas." Tony snickered.

"Who?" Leah asked.

"Your brother." Romanoff chimed in, lowering her book. "I'm sure you can find him in the surveillance room for Loki's cell."

Leah's stomach clenched at the thought of going to look for him and a bitter taste rose in her throat. So instead of answering, she took a long deep swig of the black coffee that, on a normal day, would have been doused with cream, brown sugar, and a dash of coconut extract.

"And before you say it, I know you're sorry for shooting me down as well." Romanoff uncrossed her legs and leaned forward as if prompting Leah to say something else.

"You know that I am." Leah replied lamely.

"No hard feelings." The Black Widow's small smile was somehow miles more comforting than the words she had spoken and Leah found herself excusing herself from the conversation as she slipped away to go to Dr. Banner's side. Tony and Pepper suddenly started up another round of playful banter while Romanoff reopened her book.

"May I?" Leah asked, gesturing to the open chair next to him.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Banner breathed. "I was just going over some of the results from your CT-Scans and the psych-eval's."

"Oh." Leah muttered as she sat down.

She wondered if the spell Loki had cast would have any bad effects, and for the most part, she only found herself questioning certain thoughts or observations. For a split moment she considered telling Banner about said concerns, but if she did, she wasn't sure how she would phrase it.

"How's the, uh, head?" Banner's voice was nervous and sounded chaffed in the stale air.

"Um, it's doing better. Thank you, Sir." She replied with a nod.

"You know, Stark had a point. You really don't need to be all military with us. You can just call me Bruce. You know, if that's alright."

Leah considered turning down the offer of familiarity before the words rang in her head again: _don't be so military. _Though it wasn't going to be easy breaking so many habits, she figured she deserved to stray from her past behavior.

_Loki liked it when I called him by his title, why don't they? _

Leah's eyes widened and she sputtered as the thought danced over her brain; nervous with the new direction of her conscience she answered the doctor.

"Yes. I'd like that." A small smile pulled at her lips, though somewhat stiff.

"That's good to hear." Bruce gave Leah a quick side-glance before continuing, "Do you understand, I guess, what all these scans mean?"

"Not exactly."

"Um, would you like be to show you?" Another uneasy glance.

Leah figured that he was trying not to insult her, especially because she knew how smart he actually was, while trying to educate her in a friendly manner. It was easy for her to somewhat tune out everything around he when she spoke to him; for her to feel calm and at peace. Despite Bruce's intellect, he also seemed to long for a simple connection to another person and found it, in one way or another, in Leah.

"Yes." She said it with conviction and planted a solid smile on her face. She did, after all, like learning new things. Leah realized that this simple conversation, with this not so simple person, could actually show her how it felt be. To simply _be, _and if even for a day, somewhat normal.

Another afternoon passed with a pleasant conversation, more coffee, and a box of donuts that Captain Rogers had brought up upon his arrival. Leah found herself listening rather avidly to Bruce and his explanations of her scans. She also answered several questions regarding the pain in her head, the experience under Loki's spell, and eventually dove into some personal questions. She had told him her favorite color, her favorite drink, food, and even favorite past time aside from flying. Bruce brought all of these answers out of her without so much of a blink of an eye; and they were so in depth in conversation, they didn't realize how late it was until Leah yawned for the third time in a row.

With newly found smiles, both Leah and Bruce decided it was time to turn in and bade each other a good night before going to their respective rooms. Leah's room, _thank God, _she thought, was up a set of stairs away from the main group of individuals. They had all proved to be very accepting of her and she figured that maybe being off-duty for a while wouldn't be so bad.

_Tomorrow is Sunday, _she mused to herself as she gathered clothes to sleep in. _Church day. _

Though Leah wasn't completely in love with the idea of organized religion, she enjoyed believing in something bigger than herself. And after being in so many life-or-death situations she enjoyed having some_one _else to rely on. She trusted that God had a reason for everything, and despite her recent introduction to the two Norse gods, held tightly to her faith. Leah yawned again as she threw on her running shorts and a sports bra, seeing as how the room was slightly hotter than she liked, and hopped into bed after brushing her teeth.

It was odd how suddenly the city had gone from going about its day to being under attack, in recovery, and then out of nowhere, it felt still again. Leah knew that the city would take much more time to rebuild. _Maybe I can volunteer as a Rescue Heli. _She mulled the thought over and turned the light off, the room delving into darkness. Leah sighed and rolled onto her stomach, the comforter pooling at her waist, and wondered if Clint would ever try to confront her. She found herself frowning at the thought of him and knew, in her bones, she would never forgive him for leaving. And of course, he couldn't even be bothered to have an excuse. _Isn't that just the way of the world, _her voice was bitter in her own mind, _the Golden Child will always think they're above everyone else. Disgusting._

"Oh it is, darling. And like all mortals, you must learn your place."

The new voice left her empty of air and a single whispered word spilled from her lips.

"Fuck."

**Playmate: Pilots of other aircraft on the same mission as you.**


	14. Indian Night Noises

**AN: Thanks so much for all the people that are following/favorite-ing the story. I'm so glad you all like it so much! **

**Warning: Language and graphic violence.**

Indian Night Noises

Leah was so afraid she didn't dare move, didn't dare breathe; what Loki wanted, she wasn't sure. Now that she knew he was in her room, most assuredly standing over her, she couldn't find the strength the run or even scream. Her only outward sign of her terror was her fingernails beginning to dig into the sheets near her face.

"'Fuck' indeed," he bit out.

Leah lay completely still until she felt the bed dip next to her, flinching noticeably, before dragging in a whimper deep in her lungs. She felt cool bare skin meet the flesh of her waist and knew all she could do was send a silent prayer that would allow her to sink through mattress to a haven that lay beneath the shadows. She jerked once again as fingertips grazed her right shoulder and gasped with wide eyes as Loki yanked hard and pulled her onto her back and pinned her down with his weight. Loki looked down at her pleased, to say the least, that her eyes were wide in fear. His lips curled in a devilish smile, oh, he was going to enjoy this. Gently, he pushed his left hand along the side of her neck and up into her darkened wheat-color locks. It was now that Leah saw that he wore only a pair of leather breeches. He was pinning her arms by her sides; the only light came from the eerie red glow of her alarm clock that illuminated the chiseled flesh on display.

"You thought yourself safe, did you not?" Leah shook like a leaf beneath him, and his grin widened even more. "You are not free of me yet."

"Please, I—"

"Do not speak!" he snarled at her and brought his face a mere inch from her own.

"Where did you think Your King had gone? Did you think that he would simply be locked in shackles and led away, never to return?" Leah still shook and tears now leaked from her eyes. "Oh, yes, I was shackled and muzzled like a wild _beast. _And you believed that would be safe? That your pathetic city would go back to normal? What sentiment. _Pathetic_." Loki growled the last word.

"Please, My Lord- please, just—"

Leah began to beg. Loki _loved it _when they begged. He only silenced her by bringing his mouth toward the hollow of her throat, and for a moment, wondered what she would do if he bit down. If he spilled her mortal blood across the crisp white sheets. A chuckle escaped his lips as he watched her terror stricken face from hooded eyes. Predatory eyes. Leah's terror was not only from being pinned beneath a god that meant to kill hundreds, thousands of her own people, but stemmed from her weak and feeble physical state in comparison. The helplessness she felt from _those _years came flooding back and she did nothing to stop the hot streams that now poured down her cheeks. The memories of the beatings; she remembered the wooden bat that her _father _swung at her, breaking her jaw, shattering her ribs, dislocating her hip. _Stop, stop!_ She was not only begging Loki, but begging herself for something else to occupy her mind with. To rid her thoughts of the pain.

"Again with the titles," he mused as he nuzzled her throat with his lips, "Do you think begging will do you any good?" Leah sniveled and choked on the air in her lungs.

"Please, please, don't." _Don't hurt me._

"I won't hurt you, much. But know that your disobedience will not go unpunished."

With that, Leah felt was he was doing before she realized exactly how much danger she had put herself in. Loki's teeth sank deep into her throat, sucking her flesh and tearing through the sinewy fibers that held her blood inside her body. Only, no more, would it remain in her veins. Leah's mouth flew open as fire spread in her nerves, blood spilling from her throat and burning her flesh with heat like acid. She bucked and cried noiselessly under his assault as agony, a pure, hot agony ripped through her body and she begged for something new; she begged for death. Her vision was coming and going once Loki released her throat from his clenched jaw and he sat upright, admiring his work. It was a terrifying yet beautiful sight to see; her crimson blood seeped through his lips, dripping down his sharp chin, and plopping hotly on her exposed stomach.

"Begging for death, now? Oh, darling girl," fingertips traced her grimacing lips, "beg me for mercy, swear yourself to me once more, and you will fear nothing. Not even me."

Leah's eyes opened slowly, unsure of what she was seeing until the blurriness had left; she had been dreaming. She sat up slowly, a hand going to her neck where she felt blood not seconds ago, only to find it dry and colorless. She didn't remember falling asleep, but now that she swiped at her eyes, she felt the salt of dried tears ringing her eyelashes and trailing down her cheeks. Her mind was muddled; how could that possibly have been a dream? She sat in her bed, looking around the room, for several more minutes. Nothing was amiss; the sheets, thought completely tangled about her legs, were still a clean white on the bed, the dresser across from the bed still full with her neatly folded clothes, her boots waiting by the door, even the lilacs she put in a tall glass of water near her bed were still there. Absolutely nothing was misplaced.

Dispelling a long breath, she pushed the thoughts aside. _It was a nightmare. _She fought to cement that idea in place and deem it the truth, thought deep in her subconscious, she was laughing at her foolishness. Not a chance Hell was that just a simple dream; Loki was the God of Mischief. After encountering him, serving him, she should know better than to hope that anything involving him would be simple. Oh, she _should_ know. But she refused to accept it. She cleared her throat and moved sluggishly around the room, changing into a simple cobalt blue dress with a cream blazer, before messing with her hair to tie it into a braid for church. Glancing at the clock, mostly hoping to distract herself, she realized she had barely fifteen minutes before the first service. Huffing pathetically, she shrugged on the blazer and grabbed a pair of pale cream wedges before trotting out of her room. She truly, _truly _hoped that the service would distract her from the weight of her _dream_… and the memories that were rising to the surface again.

"Hey kiddo!" Leah shrieked as she rounded the corner and nearly ran head first into Tony.

"Woah, where are you off to? Going to dine with New York's finest? Or try to catch a real man down at Rockefellers?"

"Sorry, Tony," Leah adjusted her jacket, "I'm just going for the morning service. For church. I'm going to church."

Tony gave her a withering look before saying, "So you believe in the 'good 'ol man upstairs'? You're like a female version of the Cap'n. How you getting there?"

"Cab." She replied simply.

"Why don't you take one of my cars? The 'Benz would be perfect for a get up like that."

Leah's blush burned her cheeks and the glint in Tony's eye signaled that he, indeed, had noticed. Though, how could one not? Leah knew if she told Stark why she didn't drive he would surely laugh at her. She supposed she should be used to it, especially since it was only one of the many things on her list of 'Things I Can't Do'.

"I, uh, I don't know how to drive." Leah popped her jaw and danced from foot to foot.

"Ha! That's cute, Blondie. Then take the Acura, it's an automatic. I'm guessing you just don't know how to drive a manual, much like half of the women in the United States." Leah frowned. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"I don't have a driver's license." She blurted out. Tony went silent before bursting out laughing and walked away chuckling about her many surprises.

Leah took the opportunity to flee from the tower. It wasn't that she was too inept at driving that she couldn't pass a test, she just couldn't afford to pay for driving classes at the time of her turning sixteen. And as time went on, she found she was never on the ground long enough to need one. But now here she was, off-duty for the next two months and without a driver's license. Chewing her lip, she scurried on the sunlit street to hail a cab. She felt an overwhelming amount of annoyance, nervousness, and even a string of fear for what might happen in the days to come; like she was a passenger in her own jet, completely out of control. Loki's words, the memories, everything danced across the back of her mind. She groaned before thinking to herself:

_I feel like a fucking Dead Header._

**Dead Heading or Header: A pilot flying as a passenger.**

**Indian Night Noises: Odd cracks, pops, and shudders of an aircraft.**


	15. What Sanity Has Gone Away

**AN: Went back and fixed a couple grammar errors and a big, BIG thank you to BlooAngels! The fears of insufficiency of this chapter have been assuaged. Thank you for all the positive feedback everyone!**

**Warning: Language**

What Sanity Has Gone Away

The church had been _obscenely _crowded and Leah was forced to stand for the duration of the service. On a normal day, and in normal circumstances, she would have thought the overcrowding of a church to be annoying; having so many people all in one place wasn't an easy thing for her to handle. But these were not normal times, or normal circumstances. Many of the occupants of the church were families who had lost relatives or friends, lost their jobs or apartments due to the destruction of so many buildings. And like any other person in the church, she was just trying to get a bit of guidance and security. When Leah had served in the Airforce, there were many times when she relied on her faith to get her through stressful missions. She had come face to face with death more than once, and though one might say it desensitized her, she figured that it merely made her more aware of how fragile life was. After the first death of a fellow pilot she had to fall back on _something_ or _someone_. But in reality, she had next to nothing she could rely on. So she stumbled on the words of a book she had never read before at the recommendation of her surviving company. And after the first set of Psalms she had read from the Bible, she had broken down in tears with how the words resonated with her, and she often would crumble into a sobbing mess whenever she read that book. Thus, the hour long service was no exception. The Word of God always managed to somehow bring forth the water works and always for a good reason. The people of New York City had honored the dead, prayed, sang, and even comforted one another. For a city that never slept and often paid no mind to strangers, no one was without the warm embrace of another.

Leah now sat on a bench at the side of the road just outside of Central Park sipping on a cup of coffee that she had hunted for nearly another hour for. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been off-duty for more than two days and it was odd how civilian life seemed so foreign to her. Leah took a deep breath of the afternoon air, wrought with the flavor of the city and its trials.

"Leah."

The voice startled her out her calm state and her head snapped up so hard that one would think it should have gone flying. Clint stood before her, a sobering look on his face, dressed in civilian clothing.

"Can I sit?"

Leah didn't give permission but he sat next to her anyway. She could feel her throat grow tight and she took a strained sip of coffee, letting it burn its way into her stomach before she gave him a sidelong glance. What could he possibly want from her? He had been ignoring her for almost a week. She thought she should be angry, furious even. But all she felt was anxiety; the prickling of her flesh and the dulling of her taste buds as her hands began to shake. She could barely bring herself to breathe in his presence.

"How are you?" Clint's voice was rough and almost devoid of any true curiosity.

"What?" Leah snapped.

"How _are _you," he repeated.

Leah opened her mouth and then closed it again; she couldn't think of anything to say. She was a mess of emotion now, anger, sadness, and possibly everything in between was fighting for dominance in her mind. Clint took her silence as a sign of anger, which he wouldn't have been wrong about, and snorted as he continued to speak.

"Why didn't you tell me you were working for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Oh, _now _he wanted to this conversation? Leah's face screwed up unattractively and she couldn't help but wonder if Loki were there, would he be inclined to beat her brother for her?

_If you swore yourself to him, probably. _The thought rang in her head, and somehow, there was no guilt that followed in its wake.

"It wasn't important, _Sir_."

Clint turned to face her, his own visage complete with a look of incredulity. She knew that the formal title would ruffle his feathers, and she was going to more than upset him. She was going to make things as difficult for him as possible; shame him, hurt him, guilt him. And she would do it all with a blank look on her face. _Maliciousness is not limited to the worst of us,_ she thought venomously.

"It _is _important!" Clint snapped. "I don't hear from you for almost fifteen years, and suddenly I find out you're not only working with S.H.I.E.L.D., but you're also one of the best damn pilots the United States has to offer. Jesus, Leah, when were you going to tell me? Were you even going to bother to ever talk to me again?" Clint was fuming now and had fixed Leah with a cold stare. After he had left home, he was so sure she was going to be okay. He was _told _she was going to be taken care of.

"What the hell happened? And only now I've heard that Mom and Dad were sent prison? Mind illuminating the situation here?" Clint's tone had gone sour.

Leah turned her head to look at him before saying, "I'm sorry, but that information has nothing to do with our situation." Both Clint and Leah narrowed their eyes at each other, the air growing tenser by the second.

"What happened to you?" It wasn't a true question, not really. It was a demand.

_You're going to regret ever showing your face to me again. _

"You want to know what happened," she scoffed, "Fine."

Leah stood up and threw her coffee into the trash next to the bench, her temper now flaring.

"Case Handler Malloy on Rikers Island. Extension C-17, file number 213. I certainly hope you enjoy the story." Leah's voice was pure venom as she whirled on her heel and began to storm away. Of all the ways she imagined having this confrontation, she had actually expected it to get violent. She expected screaming, crying, blame and guilt thrown back and forth between the two of them. How could he be so cavalier about this? What answered her inner turmoil was a sharp yank that spun her around to face Clint once more, and the grip itself, had her heart jumping into her throat.

"Don't give me some cryptic answer. Leave that shit for someone else. There's already too much distance between us, don't make this any harder than it already is." The timbre of Clint's speech made her want to slap him.

_How quaint; he's trying to appeal to your humanity. _

Leah took a breath as she realized that the thought was not her own and she froze in Clint's iron grip. Loki was in her head again. Or was he? She didn't feel that buzzing or the feathery touch of blue in the back of her mind. Shaking her head, she pushed the mental evaluation aside and Clint gave her an odd look at the display.

"Leave me alone." She ground out.

_No._

"No."

Leah began to pull on her arm, grunting as Clint tightened his grip on her bicep, his fingers biting into her muscle. There were too many voices for her to process, to many ideas, thoughts, too much stimuli; she couldn't focus on any one thing and fought for control of the tempest that was rising in her consciousness.

_Leah, calm yourself. You don't want to concern your dear brother, do you?_

Leah hissed at the sounds of Loki's voice and glared up at Clint. "Let go of me."

"I won't." Clint snarled in a low voice. "I'm your brother, Leah. I take care of you no matter what, that's what family does. Just talk to me." His voice had evolved into pleading.

"No! Just let go!" She finally shrieked and tears were beginning to spring up as her chest heaved. People were looking now, noticing the exchange. Leah could feel her heart squeezing in her chest, her eyes burned, and her head was beginning to throb. She could feel their gazes, the judgment, and the _attention_. She wanted to run and hide. Where was that person she could trust? The person she could hide behind? The person who would see the hurt in her eyes and take her away from everything she feared, and take care of her; where were they?

Where was Loki?

"Leah, stop it! I can help you. What's wrong?" Clint's anger was near gone and his concern had mounted. Leah had never been this skittish in her youth and she seemed actually _distressed_. But her face was changing to take on a contorted looked of absolute fury.

"What's wrong? What's _wrong_?" Leah growled in his face, tears falling in heavy streams. "You lost the right to ask me anything _years _ago. You should be ashamed that you abandoned me and it was _your fucking fault_ that I suffered. It's been fifteen years, _Clinton_, I don't need you anymore. I _never _will!"

Her voice was low and dangerous, and now, it hardly felt like she was the one actually talking. Every ounce of hate that she felt and harbored in her wounded soul reared its ugly head and the words she spoke, that came from the darkest recesses of her pain, released the floodgates of her bottled emotions. Loki would have _loved _this.

_Come now, Leah. Surely you can muster more than those meager words to damage this fool of a man? _Loki's voice came forth once more and Leah thought of the final blow.

"You call yourself my 'brother'? You forgot about me. You should be humiliated to know that. And guess what? Loki took better care of me than you_ ever _did."

_Lovely._

The look on Clint's face was _delicious_. She could see his pain as her words hit home; the thinning of his lips, the tightening of his jaw, and the slight crinkle of his nose that he always did to avoid tears. She read him like a _fucking _book. She would teach him of her agony, her loneliness and despair. The knowledge that he abandoned her would never leave him and _finally _she could watch as he experienced a new agony: he had lost his little sister. A manic grin spread over her face and her eyes darkened before she said:

"I would serve Loki in a _heartbeat_ if it meant making you suffer."

Once again, that foreign voice ghosted over the back of her mind and she almost shuddered when it spoke.

_Then you shall, my dear. _

**Gone/Goes Away: What something does when you hit it with a missile**


	16. Drift Factor: Uncertain

**AN: Sorry this chapter took so long, but we're finally going to start the development of some different relationships. :) I may or may not lead things along so it matches up with Thor 2 (when it comes out) or take it aside and make it kind of AU. Again, thanks for all the support you guys!**

**Warning: Mild sexual themes**

Drift Factor: Uncertain

Leah returned to Stark Tower and had run straight to her bedroom as quickly as she could so as to avoid another unwanted conversation. And she felt _amazing._ As she now sat on the edge of her bed peeling off her shoes, a crooked smile had cemented its place on her lips and a giddy energy made her fingers tremble. She couldn't believe the look on Clint's face or understand why she felt so satisfied by it. After she had flung those final words at him she could feel Loki's voice in the back of her mind as she ran away. Wherever Loki was, he had greatly enjoyed the show and Leah, surprisingly guiltless, actually _wanted _him to approve of what she had done; regardless of his earlier encouragement.

Even though Leah wasn't actually allied with Loki, she also thought that she wasn't completely against him either. She still felt sick when she thought of killing her fellow soldiers, but was that any different than how war always was? There was always collateral damage, and often enough, there were defectors or those who switched sides. She was one of them now; her hands stained with the red of her fellow brothers and sisters in arms. And the _Avengers _thought she was unaffected by it all. She was halfway done with changing out of her dress when she started to chuckle to herself. How naïve could they all be? They all believed that now the fighting was over everything would go back to normal, and wherever they thought Loki was, he would no longer prove to be a danger. Leah threw the dress to the side and pulled on a sweatshirt, leaving pants out of the equation.

_They're all wrong. _

"They are indeed."

Leah yelped and spun around to have her vision filled with Loki's armored chest; backing herself up a couple of steps, she met his eyes. Loki liked the look in her blue orbs; reverence with a hint of fear.

"Sir," Leah breathed out, "um, good afternoon?" She floundered over her words and felt a growing anxiety as a slow grin spread over Loki's alabaster face, his smooth lips pulling away from pearly teeth.

"I must admit, I was impressed by your earlier display. It is not often I find such enjoyment in the trivial matters of you mortals." Loki's voice was silken and he began to walk idly around Leah's room.

"Thank you, My Lord." Leah's voice was obviously unsure and certainly rang with nervousness. "Um, Sir? Permission to speak freely?"

"Yes, Leah?" She shuddered as he said her name.

"You're not going to bite me again, are you?"

Loki turned and let out a chuckle before saying, "No, my dear. That was a single punishment for a single misdeed. You have not done anything to displease me again, have you?" His eyes narrowed at her as if to calculate the risk of allowing a semblance of kindness to shine like a lure in front of her. Leah blanched and shook her head before tugging on the hem of the sweater to pull it lower on her body. Loki noticed, of course, that she was more concerned about her outward appearance to him rather than her safety. She still had yet to cry out or scream, and seeing as how she did neither, he made the conclusion that she was indeed leaning towards the idea of serving him once more. As for whatever reservations she held, he would deal with those later. He watched as her fingers danced over the frayed edge of the dark blue material and smirked as she tugged on it once more.

"Then there should be no qualm considering my intentions." His voice was stern as he said it.

"Yessir." She replied with a curt nod.

"I'm quite pleased that you have not made some feeble attempt to appeal to my humanity." Green eyes danced over her exposed legs.

"You're not human, Sir. And it would be disrespectful." As if to prove her point, she bowed her head slightly as she spoke. _Indeed, a very lovely creature._

"Now, I do believe that there is something else on your mind, yes? Perhaps concerning my offer?"

It took Leah a moment to remember what he had said the night he bit her, shuddering slightly when she remembered the pain. He had told her that if she served him, she would want for nothing. As for what that entailed, Leah wasn't exactly ecstatic about swearing herself to him.

_Don't swear yourself to a liar, _she cautioned herself and watched as Loki's eyes danced over her figure before narrowing back onto her own.

"You would be swearing yourself to your _True King._" Leah stiffened at his words. Digging in her mind? Very possible that he was. "I told you, '_beg me for mercy, swear yourself to me once more, and you will fear nothing. Not even me_.' And I do believe that what you said to your brother earlier did, in fact, reveal what you truly desire."

Loki closed the distance between them and gripped her chin in his cold fingers, making Leah stiffen and let out a squeak; no doubt she was imagining Loki sinking his teeth deep into her throat once more to seek the nectar that pulsed in her veins. His roughened hands drank deep of the heat that radiated from her and was, for a moment, calmed by it. He wondered how hot she would be for him when he took his pleasure from between her shapely legs.

"You _wanted _me as your King; knowing full well what I supplied you with when you were first under my command. But this will not be the same." Loki's eyes darkened as he spoke. "Swear yourself to me, as you once were sworn, and you shall reap the benefits of your toil as you serve under my good name."

Leah kept a steady stare at the green eyes before her, the questions in her head were flying so fast she didn't know which to ask first. What in the world could he possibly need her for that he would try to bargain for her servitude? And why not simply use the scepter on her as he did the first time? Loki was a _god_, and though she hated to admit it, she was afraid of him and what he was capable of. There was no way for her to tell if she was getting in too deep, and the likelihood of that was fairly high. Leah swallowed and slowly stepped to the side, and when his fingers didn't immediately tighten, she slipped from his grip.

"If I did swear myself to you, what exactly would my 'servitude' entail, Sir?" Leah had only put a foot or so between them and she still felt like he was smothering her. And his smirking face didn't help to quell her concerns.

"Simple; you do as you're told. I need not explain myself to you, dear girl." Loki stepped closer, not quite closing the distance Leah had procured, and trailed his fingertips over her shoulder and onto the contours of her cheekbone. "I said that you would have no need to fear for anything as long as you _obeyed _me. As an example, do not move nor speak."

The Dark God's voice had dropped low upon his verbalized command and Leah tightened her lips as he got impossibly closer to her, his cold armor pressing against her and forcing her back to meet with the wall. Though she did obey him, her small act of rebellion was her shrinking from his touch; not that Loki could blame her, his fingers were beginning to press against one of the bruises on her clavicle forcing a slight ache to spread. Leah watched him with guarded eyes and nearly shrieked in surprise when his lips met the crook of her jaw and he began to gently nip at the skin. Leah felt as though her stomach had been slammed by a wrecking ball and her lungs went tight as her breath hitched; Loki leaned in harder and slipped the grip of his teeth down her neck and throat, biting and sucking on her hot flesh. The sensation was almost terrifying for Leah as she had to force herself to not pull on his hair to make him stop; she was afraid that he would reenact the punishment he had bestowed upon her just last night and was also afraid of how she was going to respond if he decided to move his mouth elsewhere. Her attention was drawn back to Loki when he sucked even harder at the joint of her neck and moved his hands to grip her waist, and in response, Leah grasped his forearms tightly as she trembled between his lips. Loki then grinned against her skin, slickened with his saliva.

"You moved."

Leah's stomach dropped and before could say anything to appease him his lips were upon her own; stealing the air that had been in her lungs, lighting her brain up like an old TV set full of firecrackers, and making her muscles ache as they trembled. She had never been kissed like this before. It was not desperation or passion, it was a desire to put her in her place. To make her know that she was outmatched and that she _would _submit to the being in front of her. His tongue was blisteringly cool as it met with hers, wrapping and sliding behind her teeth; his hands gripped her hips and he pressed his hard core against her stomach. He was able to feel her heat earlier just through his fingertips, and now, he could feel her warmth as his body fit the contours of her curves. Her lips were smooth, her breasts heaving, and her hips quivered as if she were trying not to meet his gentle nudges. Oh, she was desperate to breathe, move, make some sort of noise of her own volition. But doing that would only give Loki more reason to attack her mouth, or her body. And God only knew what else he would dare do to her. When Loki finally pulled back he only dove back down to her throat, latched onto her flesh, and bit down hard enough to leave another mark, but not hard enough to rip through her throat as he did the night before. Leah snatched her lower lip between her teeth to keep herself from squealing and found herself wanting to beg him to stop his now slightly painful onslaught. He could feel himself growing hard as he fed on her skin; she tasted like fruit and rain. _Delicious_, he thought. Then, all at once, it was over. Loki still had her up against the wall but he was no longer attacking her bruising flesh. Reveling in his fine work, his breath ghosting over the fresh hickeys, Loki knew he would certainly enjoy her to the fullest when he got the chance; she was so _obedient_ and she hadn't even sworn herself to him yet. _Perhaps she won't have to, _he mused to himself.

With his lips now touching the shell of her ear he whispered, "You are mine, dear girl. Decide on your answer carefully."

**Drift Factor: If you have one, you are unreliable.**


End file.
